The Specification Is Code

Some day we won't even need coders any more. We'll be able to just write the specification and the program will write itself Oh wow, you're right! We'll be able to write a comprehensive and precise spec and bam, we won't need programmers any more! Exactly! And do you know the industry term for a project specification that is comprehensive and precise enough to generate a program? Uh... no... Code It's called code

A four-panel comic shows two programmers imagining a future where specifications automatically generate programs. The punchline is that a sufficiently comprehensive and precise specification is already called code, making the dream of eliminating programmers circular. It is commonly shared as a reaction to unrealistic claims about replacing software developers with natural-language specifications.

• @dev_meme / 2519 2020-12-24