Re:Ask HN: SWEs how do you future-proof your career in light...
by IshKebab on Monday December 16, 2024 @05:14PM
(#42436058)
> then I would count that as "replaced 2 programmers"
Well then you can count IDEs, static typing, debuggers, version control etc. as replacing programmers too. But I don't think any of those performance enhancers have really reduced the number of programmers needed.
In fact it's a well known paradox that making a job more efficient can increase the number of people doing that job. It's called the Jevons paradox (thanks ChatGPT - probably wouldn't have been able to find that with Google!)
Making people 20% more efficient is very different to entirely replacing them.
Well then you can count IDEs, static typing, debuggers, version control etc. as replacing programmers too. But I don't think any of those performance enhancers have really reduced the number of programmers needed.
In fact it's a well known paradox that making a job more efficient can increase the number of people doing that job. It's called the Jevons paradox (thanks ChatGPT - probably wouldn't have been able to find that with Google!)
Making people 20% more efficient is very different to entirely replacing them.