I like Microsoft. They write software that I use everyday. Every time I turn my computer on I am reminded that Windows was my first OS. Many of you share this same scenario. The question I ask myself lately, is Microsoft harming the field of programming by taking away the need for code?

Think of it this way, if it took you only five lines of code to do what would normally take 500 or more, how much customization do you have that is given without finding hidden generated code? If you can do this with ease so can others. If others can accomplish this without a lot of experience what happens to our pay? With every new release of the .NET framework and the Visual Studio IDEs more and more programmability is done for you, leaving you with drag-and-drop techniques. This is fine as long as the code that is generated is not “hid” and it is easily customizable. Will the need for expertise eventually leave the field? Will the pay for programmers go down as Microsoft continues this “No Code Programming” road? These are questions that I don’t know, but that I fear may be true.

I just want to know what you think. One thing is for certain, there will always be legacy code that only experienced programmers can maintain (Ex: COBOL, RPG). I don’t know the answers to all of this and maybe I am just missing something, but to me this could be bad for us down the road.