>I don't disagree with any of that. But as I just replied to Hank, in fact demand for software developers remains very high. We haven't been replaced by machines yet.

Some pieces of the process get automated - even by ourselves - but then the apps become more complicated as we go. I see myself doing things I wouldn't imagine doing 20 years ago, or even 10. The code has to be far more intelligent now than it used to be; the GUI has to look nicer and smoother (and I'm grateful (as in "it was grating on my nerves and now it stopped") that the monolithic stalinist-style gray is out of fashion, finally); the user should be able to do things in several ways, the tools should be at hand, without the need to hunt them throughout the menu; error handling should be foolproof and smooth; help file should be, etc etc.

So we produce the same number of apps per year as we did before, and all the good tools we have only help us make those apps richer, not more numerous.