Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What software technologies will still be around 20 years from now?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 45 posts

Re: Ask HN: What software technologies will still be around 20 years from now?

#12

Post by billman »

s1t5 wrote: post #10

Not being facetious here, I'm genuinely asking - does it matter at all? What difference does it make if something will be used in 20 years?

As I look back on my career, there have been things that I learned early on that I still am able to leverage today (i.e. bash, linux, vim, java). There are a slew of other technologies that didn't last (i.e. DCOM, Corba, J++, J2EE). If I'm going to invest my time in learning, I'd like to realize some return on time. Granted there are cool experimental technologies that I learn with the realization that they may not be around in a couple years, but I can plan/architect around that.

Re: Ask HN: What software technologies will still be around 20 years from now?

#13

Post by semicolonandson »

This is the core question I'm focusing on in the learning curriculum of my screencasts https://www.semicolonandsons.com/about

I'm betting on

- unix-like systems

- SQL-like systems

- vim

- "core" aspects of programming languages (data types, algorithms, operator precedence, etc.)

- HTTP protocol

- program design

- security

Re: Ask HN: What software technologies will still be around 20 years from now?

#15

Post by mattbrewsbytes »

billman wrote: post #12
s1t5 wrote: post #10

Not being facetious here, I'm genuinely asking - does it matter at all? What difference does it make if something will be used in 20 years?

As I look back on my career, there have been things that I learned early on that I still am able to leverage today (i.e. bash, linux, vim, java). There are a slew of other technologies that didn't last (i.e. DCOM, Corba, J++, J2EE). If I'm going to invest my time in learning, I'd like to realize some return on time. Granted there are cool experimental technologies that I learn with the realization that they may not b…

Those specific technologies may not have lasted in those formats but OO techniques and patterns in them will persist for a long time like ModelViewController and its variants.

There may be some cool new tech that comes out with a neat pattern for solving a problem, we need to identify that pattern and re-use it.

Re: Ask HN: What software technologies will still be around 20 years from now?

#18

Post by frompdx »

All of these are just guesses.

Niche stuff:

- Lisp, in some form or another will continue to exist.

- Forth will continue to exist because it is possible for a single person to revive it.

Common stuff:

- vi/vim will live on. I will stop typing if it doesn't.

- JavaScript is probably here to stay.

- Java seems like a safe bet for longevity.

- Spreadsheets. Maybe not Excel, but spreadsheets will live on.

Re: Ask HN: What software technologies will still be around 20 years from now?

#19

Post by rasikjain »

Most of the tools/languages which are used heavily in enterprise world will continue to exist.

e.g

Java / C#/ C++ / JavaScript / Python

Oracle / SQL Server

Unix / Linux / Windows

SAP / ERP Systems / Mainframes / Cobol

Apart from this, We will see lot of changes the way we do development. We will see lot of improvement in automation / No Code / RPA etc

Re: Ask HN: What software technologies will still be around 20 years from now?

#20

Post by idoh »

Reminds me of the Lindy Effect, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect.

So, things that are old but still around are more likely to still be around: Unix, SQL, emacs / vim, fan-favorites lisp and forth ...

Web / CSS frameworks / mobile frameworks are less likely to be around.

Post reply on HN