Computer Programming Spectrum, with an agentic programming overlay
Computer Programming
Spectrum
Closest to
fundamental
hardware:
Most technically
demanding
Most “user
friendly”:
requires little
technical skill
Do Anything
Command over Hardware
Much constrained
Most potential innovation
Innovation Potential
Least potential innovation
Windows
Mac OS
Machine Code
Assembler
C, C++
Hardware (Drivers),
Op System
Creating Apps
Developing a
Word Processor
C, C++
Java
Application Dev
Scripting
R
Python
Perl
XSLT
Scripting
Spreadsheet
Word Proc
Browsing
Using Applications
“Programming”
Natural language
Agentic programming
·
you describe
→
an agent writes code at any level
→
you verify
Vibe coding: programming?
With agents, power and skill come apart
A plain-language request can now reach every level of the spectrum.
But you can only trust code you understand well enough to check,
so the skill shifts from writing code to specifying and testing it.
Until chatbots
+ Agent layer
+ Vibe coding?
+ The shift
Present full screen
Click the slide or press
→
to add the next layer,
←
to take one away.