Ask HN: Has there been a "software crisis" since the 60s?

2 pointsby boxesnlines4 hours ago1 comment

vincent-uden4 hours ago
You can at least say that there hasn't been one software crisis since the 60s. From my understanding the crisis referred to by Dijsktra was in regards to programs being so difficult write in those times that software development couldn't move forward as a field.
This was prior to "Structured programming" catching on which contains the usual constructs of today (for-loops, if statements, etc.). Structured programming somewhat ended that first crisis, once again allowing software to grow in complexity and scope.
We've had other crisis since then and do right now. But they are not the same as that specific crisis. Our programming capacities did increase with the adoption of structured programming.
If you haven't, you should watch "The root of the root of all evil" by Casey Muratori which discusses this whole train of thought in much further detail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpj6r6CjJf8
- boxesnlines3 hours ago
  Thank you, that really recontextualizes the quote; from my perspective it does seem like we've been rapidly sliding into chaos for >20 years, just in a different way!
  - vincent-uden2 hours ago
    I agree. There has been another software crisis of wasting our incredibly fast hardware on slow software concepts for many reasons over the last >20 years. It feels easy to apply that quote (and many other of Dijsktras pessimistic quotes) on the current landscape and while it rings true, he was not talking about the same kind of situation.