Is Your Programming Paradigm HOT or NOT?

Is your programming paradigm Hot or Not????

Well, you might not agree with my observations, but here's what I'm seeing:



Real Time
Let's start at the bottom of the stack: Real Time. Due to an increase in consumer devices, wireless networks, etc. we are seeing additional requirements for new low level programming. I wouldn't call it 'explosive demand', but the area does seem to be growing.

3GL
Surely, I'll get beat up here... but that's life. I am of the opinion that the amount of 'straight 3GL' coding continues to decrease. With the maturity of other paradigms people don't need to do as much old fashion hand coding as they used to. The bulk of this work has moved up a layer in the stack (3.5 GL / App Dev).

Application Development
These days more and more people write their applications on top of some stack (Java EE, open source frameworks, .Net, etc. Typically, they are using a combination of a 3GL with DSL extensions (JSP, ASP, etc.) In recent years, we saw the big application platforms (ERP, CRM, etc.) get (mostly) migrated to one of the aforementioned stacks.

Package App Customizations
The ERP, CRM and other packaged app vendors have increased their market share (as a percent of the enterprise footprint). This has moved traditional application development to more of a 'customization' model. Power users or application configurators use a workbench to add fields to a screen, modify reports, grant user access and other basic operations. New modules or complex changes are still typically done with more of an Application Development model except that the developer is expected to use the 'business framework' that comes with the system.

Platform as a Service
Although PaaS remains in it's infancy, it is growing at a rapid pace. From a language perspective, we seem to be seeing three options:
- The first option is to create a new language (like Apex) that is PaaS friendly (multi-tenant, sandbox, governed, etc.)
- The second option is to take a current programming language and throw exceptions with people call potentially harmful features (like Google did with their Python impl)
- The third option is to let the developer program in any language they want and let them deploy it on a VM. Here, developers are typically charged for CPU time and the VM is the sandbox, thus they don't really care what you do.


In general, we're seeing more and more development move up the stack. On occasion, we have to rework the stack, so we drop back down into lower layers and then work our way back up. Ultimately, the stacks get figured out and dollars (and work) flow into the layer of the stack that is most productive.