The article reflects on a Mastodon post by Andy Wingo quoting Gerald Sussman's observation that modern programming has shifted from composing small, understood parts to performing 'basic science' on opaque, foreign libraries. It discusses how this change influenced MIT's decision to move away from Scheme for its introductory course, as engineering now requires probing unknown systems rather than building from transparent components. The piece is a commentary on the evolving nature of software engineering and the loss of deep understanding in system construction.
Background
Gerald Sussman is a prominent computer scientist and co-author of 'Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs' (SICP), which used Scheme and was long the foundation of MIT's introductory programming course. The shift away from Scheme at MIT reflects broader changes in how software is built and understood.
- Source
- Lobsters
- Published
- Mar 12, 2026 at 05:25 AM
- Score
- 5.0 / 10