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Comment by sys_64738 | Hacker News Reader

Robots are coming and so is automation. Programming opportunity will only exist in custom projects but most companies want to use COTS solutions to not beholden to contractors in the long run.

This change is starting to emerge and the programming opportunities for the future will start to erode.

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> most companies want to use COTS solutions

This was true 20 years ago too, and yet the demand for developers is as great as ever despite more and more COTS type solutions available each day. I'm not being critical of your viewpoint, rather I'd like to understand what you believe has changed or is changing. Especially, I'm curious what role you believe robotics plays in that.

Take Python which is a language with a continually growing number of frameworks. Those frameworks take care of the majority of the grunt work that developers have traditionally had to do. The API extensibility of those frameworks it the modern COTS experience. Those APIs are all destined for the cloud and the majority of your functionality will be consumed by those cloud APIs. Your job as a programmer is merely to sow a few of those APIs together to create a shim layer of functionality with a pretty user interface.

When you get to this level of simplicity then the human factor can be quickly replaced. That's where robotics comes in.

Lol, who do you think is writing the COTS software in the first place if not programmers? All signs are pointing to opportunities for developers increasing, not decreasing.

Programming is moving towards a lego style model. That isn't actually software development any more. You don't need much programming experience to be able to attain those skills.

It's why sites such as stackoverflow.com are so popular.

So what should a junior developer do with this knowledge in mind?

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