Programming is more a meta-profession, it tries to automate and eliminate the boring or repetitive part of all professions.

I don't think we can ever standardize programming any more than we can standardize humanity's collective goals and ambitions.

High level languages standardized assembly. Tools have increased the amount of knowledge you need to function as a programmer, but they also provide standard solutions to real problems. It’s not like CSS is nessisary for building a website, but it really does both help and replace a lot of custom code.

Plumbers still need to get things to work in your house, but tools and techniques have largely removed guesswork. The end point will be different than accounting, but I feel the trend is clear with knowledge replacing the need for extreme generic problem solving skills.

‘Design Patterns’ are of real though limited value, that’s a meta example of exactly what I am talking about.

Salaries have been stagnating because companies refuse to raise the salaries, along with ever increasing inflation. Your 100k job was worth less than a dollar back in 1980, due to inflation.

Programmers should be making closer to 200-300k per year; but then everyone else would be making 30 or 40 dollars an hour minimum wage.

Supply and demand aren’t well matched, considering the job posting out there. But there’s a lot going on influencing all of this