Code as we knew it is dying. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the new driver of change in software development, leaving traditional programming methods behind. The latest IEEE Spectrum rankings show that Python remains at the top, but JavaScript has seen a significant decline. However, with more programmers turning to AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude for routine coding tasks, the volume of public questions on forums has dropped dramatically.
This raises concerns about the future of language popularity, as traditional methods of measuring it may become obsolete. With AI generating code in virtually any language, the need to choose a programming language is becoming less important. Instead, programmers are focusing on architecture and algorithms.
The impact of AI on programming languages is significant. Existing languages that require large amounts of training data to generate effective code may struggle to compete with newer, more advanced tools. This could lead to a frozen popularity for existing languages, making it harder to launch new projects.
Researchers are questioning whether high-level languages are still necessary, as AI can directly transform a programmer’s query into intermediate code for the compiler. This would make traditional languages a useless level of abstraction, resulting in unreadable but unit-testable “black boxes.”
In this future, programmers’ roles will change significantly. Architectural decisions, algorithm selection, and system integration will remain important, but mastery of a specific language will become less relevant.
The question remains whether there will be a single “primary programming language” by 2026. One thing is clear: AI has already become the most significant driver of change in software development since the advent of compilers in the 1950s. The IEEE promises to explore new metrics and approaches to understand what “language popularity” really means in the age of artificial intelligence.
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Source: https://www.redhotcyber.com/en/post/code-as-we-knew-it-is-dead-artificial-intelligence-writes-the-future