What Is Programming?

This article explores the evolving meaning of programming in the era of generative artificial intelligence. The authors question whether programming is merely the act of writing instructions or a broader creative and problem-solving process. They contrasts historical and theoretical views—emphasizin...

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Publicado en:Communications of the ACM Vol. 68; no. 6; pp. 28 - 31
Autores principales: Nicolajsen, Sebastian, Brabrand, Claus
Formato: Opinion
Publicado: Association for Computing Machinery Jun2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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          Nicolajsen, Sebastian
          Brabrand, Claus
        affil: IT University of Copenhagen, Computer Science, Kobenhavn, København, Denmark
      su:
        Generative artificial intelligence
        Computer programming
        Computer programmers
        Definitions
        Problem solving
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        subj:
          Generative artificial intelligence
          Computer programming
          Computer programmers
          Definitions
          Problem solving
      ab: This article explores the evolving meaning of programming in the era of generative artificial intelligence. The authors question whether programming is merely the act of writing instructions or a broader creative and problem-solving process. They contrasts historical and theoretical views—emphasizing programming as an art involving domain understanding, abstraction, and ethics—with how contemporary educators define and teach it, often in narrower, code-centric terms. A survey of Danish programming educators revealed that while many reduce programming to instruction-writing, their definitions of a “good programmer” include creativity, abstraction, and logical reasoning—qualities harder to automate. The authors argue that in the age of AI, educators must explicitly teach and emphasize these intangible aspects of programming to preserve its core value.
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      doctype: Opinion
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    language: English
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