The programmer’s workplace: Part I the “shop”

Abstract

It was not so long ago that programmers were made out to be a tribe of magicians who performed mysteries hidden from the understanding of ordinary human beings. The “typical” programmer was an unkempt eccentric, part wizard, part misanthrope, who preferred the company of electronic brains to human ones. Bleary-eyed, usually bearded, he dwelled in a forbidden place called a “cubicle”—preferably adjacent to the computer—furnished only with paper, pencil, and army cot. He worked, like true magicians, mostly at night, making only occasional daylight visits to claim payment for services rendered.