Software Code Fetish

What once was an asset is now a liability

Computer programming became a profession back in the 1950s. In the ensuing 70+ years we’ve seen the rise of software development that began eating the world, and today we have tens of millions of software professionals who are responsible for writing software code.

In the beginning, the task of programming computers was no small feat, as only a few select, intellectually advanced people were able to pull it off. To make things a bit more accessible, some engineers started working on high level programming languages; the first such language was called FORTRAN, and was developed by John Backus.

Now comes the interesting part: when von Neumann (father of digital computing machinery) was presented with the concept of the FORTRAN programming language in 1954, he asked annoyingly “why would you want more than machine language?” He felt that raising the abstraction level of a programming language is only contributing to the softening of the intellectual rigour required for computer programmers.

But the cat was out of the bag, and software development took off thanks to the invention of high level programming languages.

The Rise Of Code Jockeys

During the past 3 - 4 decades, a new echelon started forming on the world of business -- the high priesthood of code jockeys. People who managed to learn some programming language suddenly became the cool kids on the block. The rising popularity of personal computers which promoted highly visible spokespersons, like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, cemented the cool factor of people who are not afraid to sit in front of a computer and write some code.

It did not take long before this obsession with computer programming turned into fetishizing the code. It took a lot of learning, experience, and effort to be able to write some code and make it run on a computer. Those who managed to reach that level of skill were capable of claiming some special privileges.

Next thing you know, suddenly there were celebrities and rock stars and ninjas congregating around the software development activities. The cloud of mystique started forming around such clique of individuals. They even coined a new term: brogrammers. The brotherhood of highly paid computer programmers.

And of course, with such elevated status came a much coveted privilege -- a carte blanche giving them the right to choose their own work hours, their own office attire, ping pong, pool, and foosball tables in the office, etc.

Code Fetish As An Asset

Not surprisingly, such privileged individuals developed extreme attachment to the code they were producing. That attachment turned into fetish. The fact that in the early days they were evaluated and paid by the number of lines of code they were writing in the unit of time only strengthened the already intense fetish.

Businesses stated viewing the source code produced by their workers as a valuable asset. Some started bragging about millions of lines of code locked in their corporate vaults. And the high priesthood of coders were of course lavishly praised and rewarded with rich bonuses for their awesome coding prowess.

Code Is A Liability

Eventually, more and more people started waking to the fact that code is never an asset. Same as in the Lean Manufacturing, which regards any inventory as a liability, code is also an inventory. And as such, code is nothing but a liability.

But if code is a liability, what is an asset? Only functionality is an asset, and if that functionality can be accomplished without writing even a single line of code, even better.

AI Is Starting To Burst The Code Fetish Bubble

Recent advancements in generative AI has sent tremors through the code fetish community. Suddenly, when they least expected it, code fetishists were faced with the fact that machines can easily write a lot of good code. And what’s even more disturbing, AI is getting better and better at writing code. AI now seriously threatens to topple the high priesthood of code fetishists.

And those high priests are not going down without a fight. Browse any tech discussion forum and you will no doubt see a deluge of naysayers with their tirades against AI, their fabricated horror stories (“oh no, AI wiped our entire database clean!”) Code fetishists feel seriously threatened as their carefully guarded secret coding skills are now getting completely demystified by those dime-a-dozen AI agents. Not surprisingly, brogrammers are terrified of losing their carte blanche status and privileges.

So, buckle up, code fetishists. You’re in for a very rocky ride, and the worst is yet to come!