International Programmer’s Day: Celebrating the Backbone of the Tech World

International Programmer’s Day, observed on the 13th of September, is a momentous occasion when we pause to recognize and applaud the incredible contributions of programmers to our modern world. These unsung heroes of the digital age have woven intricate lines of code that power our everyday lives, from the smartphones we rely on to the sophisticated software underpinning crucial industries like healthcare, finance, and transportation. Programmers have not only enabled remote work and learning but have also facilitated essential breakthroughs in medical research, data analysis, and communication during these challenging times.

In the dynamic world of programming, continuous learning and adaptation are fundamental. Programmers must keep their skills up-to-date and adapt to the rapidly changing technological environment. Learning new languages, frameworks, and tools is not merely a choice but a necessity. The ability to embrace evolving requirements and technologies distinguishes programmers as true innovators. This commitment to constant improvement and innovation is encapsulated by the saying, “The best code you will ever write is code you haven’t written yet.” Programmers’ relentless pursuit of knowledge and adaptability remains at the core of their success in shaping the digital world.

Programming languages have a rich history that has transformed the software development landscape. From early languages like Fortran and COBOL, which laid the foundation for computation, to contemporary ones like Python, JavaScript, and Rust, programming languages have continually evolved to become more efficient and expressive. This evolution has empowered programmers to bring their ideas to life with increasing ease and versatility. Looking ahead, the future of programming languages is promising, as they are being designed to harness the potential of quantum computing, enhance security, and seamlessly integrate with emerging technologies like AI and blockchain.

As we look to the future, we anticipate even greater achievements as programmers harness the potential of AI, paving the way for a more advanced and interconnected global society. Today, in recognition and celebration of their significant contributions to the world of technology, we have gathered a distinguished group of technology leaders. They are here to express their heartfelt appreciation for the remarkable achievements of software developers in our nation.

Anjali Byce, CHRO, Sterlite Technologies

“In recent years, the telecom industry has seen a surge in demand for advanced skills, primarily due to factors such as 5G technology and emerging applications like AI, Blockchain, and IoT. But just having programming knowledge isn’t sufficient. To truly thrive and contribute, we must nurture a diverse set of skills that complement and bolster our overall growth. It’s not just about code; it’s about harnessing technology, creativity, and problem-solving abilities. After all, programming is, at its core, a medium through which we bring our creative ideas to life.

In our dynamic world of telecommunications, we are the architects of digital infrastructure from the ground up. It’s a multifaceted journey where competencies like programming and customer experience are pivotal. At STL, we’re committed to learning and evolving. We’re shifting our focus from roles to skills, using our Skill Index tailored to each individual. For example, we have a skill catalogue with various categories. We match employee skills to roles in our Job Families, Sub-Job Families, and unique business roles. Specific skills are linked to these roles, with proficiency levels set. Employees are then assigned roles based on their skills and proficiency levels. This skill mapping tool helps our programmers (and all employees) assess, plan, and improve their skills, align their roles with their strengths, and contribute effectively to our organisation’s success in the dynamic tech field.

Then, we have the STL Academy, which is a knowledge hub for professionals, offering courses aligned with industry demands such as coding, AI, ML, 5G RAN, and more, supporting both individual and organisational growth.

Our goal is to create a powerful collaboration that turns untapped potential into the skills needed for success in the industry.” 

Samit Banerjee, Division President, Amdocs Cloud Operations and Customer Services Management

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI will emerge as game changers in the realm of programming. We are already seeing the changes with the advent of low code/ no code platforms. This revolutionary tech holds the potential to translate high-level instructions into functional code, which many believe can turn anyone into a developer. But that’s a bit too far-fetched. No matter what technology advances we see, foundational coding skills will always remain fundamental in the tech world.

Generative AI will assist in writing code faster, validating and testing the code, and recommending fixes. Human guidance will remain essential. The future of programming will be more intuitive with an aim to deliver enhanced software development workflows, foster collaboration and simplify code management. Organizations will be required to invest in people and time to upskill their programmers and show a serious intent to navigate ethical considerations.

In the future, a proficient programmer will not be defined solely by their extensive experience or specialized technical expertise but also by their additional skills, such as logical reasoning, adaptability, creativity, and persistence, which will equip them to deal with ethical considerations while leveraging the full potential of the new technologies.

Educational institutions will need to emphasize more on providing their students with practical technological skills. Let’s have more collaborations between colleges and industries, facilitating students’ engagement with real-world challenges, including internships and hands-on learning opportunities. 

Shishir Saxena, Head of Engineering, Fidelity International highlighting how AI-based code generation (CodeGenAI) is the new wave that comes with great power and responsibility.

Living with CodeGenAI

AI based code generation (CodeGenAI) is the new wave riding everyone’s mind.

Large Language Models (LLM) like Codex and Llama are trained on code and natural language data and promise huge savings averaging 30%. Plugins and applications created on them further integrate with modern code editors. Based on coding context and prompts, CodeGenAI has the capability to generate code, refactor it, review it, write test cases and more.

You (a developer) can view CodeGenAI as your co-pilot, where you are the captain or “the leading commander”, and CodeGenAI is the first officer or the “co-pilot”. This shift in perspective can bring relief if you are uncertain about CodeGenAI or its impact on life as a developer.

CodeGenAI has a lot to offer – “the code flows”, probably at a speed greater than desired for programming. And hence, developers need to understand every little detail from a production perspective and need the right training and skillsets to understand the usage of prompts.

Here is a live experience which summaries the two sides of the coin.

During a demo session with a service provider on CodeGenAI, an Engineer and Sales duo created a forecasting model in Python. The first comment (#) picked the sentiment and started generating massive code. Everything looked perfect and had a ‘wow factor’. However, the next bit was a surprise – this is not how engineers write code! We needed modularisation, test driven development (TDD), linting and so on. While CodeGenAI can perform these tasks, it needs specific instructions to do so, that is, the developer needs to get back being in control.

The ownership of code generated by CodeGenAI is another hotly discussed concern across the industry and enterprises, since the model could have been trained using copyrighted data. Such areas are still grey, and the industry needs to work on bringing clarity to them.

CodeGenAI is power. But with great power comes great responsibility. And in this case, also a steep learning curve!