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Zen And The Art of Programming Many years ago when I first started programming, programs were generally written from scratch. A problem was analysed, from the analysis a specification was written and then a program was written to carry out the function. Nowadays few people write programs in this way. There are existing programs that can perform most functions that analysts require and these can be combined in ways to perform the necessary tasks. In this regard, programming has moved the same way as many other technological tasks. When cars first became items for the masses, anyone who owned a car would invariably do their own maintenance. They understood the technology and could repair any problems. The same goes for radios. The first radios were made from scratch. Initially, people made crystal sets and then valve receivers. Later, manufacturers started producing radios for the mass market. Similarly, the first personal computers were made by individuals from components. Then kits were sold and later manufacturers produced for the mass market. Also as electronics advanced it was no longer feasible for people to repair a radio or TV set. At best, repairing became a case of replacing a whole circuit board. More usually, with many modern appliances, it is a case of throwing out the whole thing and buying a new one. There is a difference in the kind of thinking required when programming a system from first principles, or when building a radio set from components, then when simply plugging in modules. Designing from first principles requires problem-solving abilities. The ability to work things out and produce a solution. Plugging in modules requires an ability to look up information and match attributes. It requires reading manuals and processing information that someone else has produced. Robert Pirsig examined this in Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A similar phenomenon has taken place in the medical profession. Doctors examine a person to ascertain symptoms, these symptoms are looked up in a book of drugs that tells them what drugs will address which symptoms and then the appropriate drug is prescribed. This is one of the reasons that many people go to holistic practitioners who see diseases as problems to be solved, not as symptoms to be looked up. Unfortunately, the ability to solve problems in this way is less and less common. I know from employing college graduates that many of them lack this ability completely. Even basic skills such as arithmetic ability is lacking in many people who can only use a calculator. The ability to spell has become the ability to use a spell checker (and even this is often absent). Knowledge has become the ability to acquire information, and with each step people become less self-sufficient and more dependent on technology. I've examined this before in ‘Technology’.