Just because suits are going out of fashion, doesn't mean there isn't a dress code anymore. A programmer at a typical startup has a dress code that's just as strict as a suit and tie ever was - except that now it's unspoken.

In other words, try showing up to your job as a programmer at your typical west coast startup wearing a fine suit and tie, just because you like the look. (Like I do!) I think you'll quickly find that the de facto dress code is, in fact, old jeans plus graphic t-shirt/hoodie, or flat-front chinos plus gingham shirt, and that your coworkers are going to sneer at you for your choice to buck this unspoken dress code.

Wearing a suit and tie for pleasure to your basic programming job might even limit your career, because it might signal to your coworkers and bosses that you're not a team player. So much for no more dress codes!

Fashions don't deserve to last forever - suits and ties are inevitably fading away even as we might hand-wring about the continuing destruction of fine dress in American society. But to suggest that dress codes are disappearing is not correct. Dress codes are as alive as they ever were, now they're just unspoken.