Programming Languages

My acquaintance with computers dates back to 1984. 

At that time, there was a computer arm in Kuleli, that is, in high school, and I met for the first time with the Commodore VIC 20, which is not even mentioned in the market today, with a memory of 4 kilobytes, and I understood what a computer was then. 

By the way, the reason why it is called Vic 20 is that you install 16 kilobyte cartridges in the back of the computer and its memory increases to 20 kilobytes, hence the name Vic 20. How low memory things were compared to today's terabyte capacities, right?

Later they bought a Coommodore 64, and we had the honour of meeting a slightly more advanced computer.

Of course, there was also one of Apple's first models, which no one would sit on because the language of use was different. I struggled with it a bit, but I liked the vic 20s more.

Of course, at that time, almost everyone on the arm spent their time playing games with computers.

I also played games sometimes, but I liked programming more.

The programme language that those simple computers understood back then was called Basic.

We used to make some simple programmes in this language, and then we used the compile programme, that is, the intermediate programme that translates the programmes into computer language, to translate them into computer language and run them.

Since computers didn't have recording memory at that time, we used to record these programmes on tape recorders.

Anyway, those devices we called computers were connected to the televisions we knew at that time. So they didn't even have their own screens. Only that Apple had its own screen.

Let me not be too long, I have been good with computers since those times. I learnt Pascal and Cobol languages besides Basic at the university. I remember that I was dealing with many more computer languages.

I even grew up to be able to programme on the main system at METU. Although punch cards were used as note cards in my time, I also know punch cards. In our time, the work we did was stored in the main computer's memory. We were only printing the programme on paper.

At that time, computers were running on the DOS operating system and everything changed with the advent of the Windows operating system.

After a while, there was no need for anyone to sit down and make programmes. 

Ready-made programmes were created on the basis of Windows and it became essential to use these ready-made programmes rather than making programmes on our own. Because it was easier to use than to make.

My involvement with computer programming continued for quite a while.

However, from a professional point of view, the introduction of Excel to the market, or rather I should say spread sheet programmes, there were Silk and Lotus in the past, then Microsoft Windows, I think, took Lotus into its structure and released it under the name of Excel and caused the others to be wiped out, so Excel was more than enough for me. 

In the years when I was a project engineer, I used to make simple programmes with Basic language, but with the formulas I defined on Excel, I could solve my problems without the need to make so many programmes.

One of the important programmes in our profession was AutoCAD at that time. The programme we were drawing with.

AutoCAD had its own language called Lisp. With this language, I was writing new commands on the programme. 

Draw me a hammer! You can even create such a housing on AutoCAD with lisp language.

However, over time, new versions of AutoCAD came out and new versions started to come with commands similar to the commands I wrote. So I didn't have to deal with it. 

Anyway, AutoCAD made this command writing language C++ instead of Lisp after a while.

I had once worked on C++, but as I said, I didn't need to write programmes myself anymore. Excel was enough for me.

Anyway, I started to use Excel only to create simple tables in construction sites. There is not much need for such professional formulas in construction site works.

Programmes such as SAP, where we make engineering calculations, were never needed on construction sites. 

Those works were the works of the project offices that prepared the projects.

***

Today I came across a graph showing the historical development of computer programming languages.

Even C++ is now down to 23% in terms of popularity among programming languages.

The champion is JavaScript, 64 percent.

I think this language is the language of the applications we use on mobile phones.

To be honest, there is no language on the list that I can say I know this language. 

Maybe I will say C++, but I actually forgot even that.

I guess there is no need to know a computer language anymore. There are millions of ready-made computer programmes, there are many applications and you can find whatever you want according to your needs.

I don't even use a computer lately, the mobile phone in my hand can do whatever I want to do. I also watch YouTube on a tablet, even if the tablet is old, it shows it better because the screen is a bit bigger.

I think tomorrow's programmes will be done with the help of computers again.

It will be possible to produce customised computer programmes easily with verbal commands, recipes, maybe even written instructions.

This kind of programming will probably only be useful for programmers. 

The fate of those who are not producers but consumers, including me, will be to use whatever is offered.

Believe me, I don't know how long I haven't written any programmes anymore. If anything, it is the use of professional programmes. I don't know, there is a special programme for making a work programme, there is a special programme for financial follow-up, there are already a thousand kinds of programmes for writing. The rest you already know. 

There is no need for anyone to write programmes themselves anymore.

I remember a friend of mine who was studying computer engineering at the university trying to get the computer to draw a line more accurately. I now realise how empty he was actually dealing with.

Perhaps not only him, but all of us are dealing with empty work.

Maybe on the contrary, it is more valuable to produce something by labouring as before?

As they say, adding value, the work you do must now produce added value.

Frankly, I am a little confused about this. 

When you spend so many years of labour and then give up everything because you think it's ready-made, it makes you wonder where we are going, what kind of jobs will we find for people in the future?

And when you say let robots do everything, I wonder what kind of problems will arise with so many people wandering around idle?

Anyway, these are questions that require deep interpretation, and the answers may not really exist.

Nevertheless, we are moving full speed ahead in technology, I hope we are on the right track.

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow.