I wish I could remember the source, but someone once said what’s interesting about software isn’t the novelty, it’s the permanence. If you get the right algorithm, like the Knuth Shuffle or whatever, it can be written just once and then reused forever. Even things like Platonic than algorithms, like APIs, can last for decades (recall Thompson’s lament that if he had it to do over, “I’d spell creat with an e.”). HTTP and email have been working protocols for decades and are essentially immortal.
I wish I could remember the source, but someone once said what’s interesting about software isn’t the novelty, it’s the permanence. If you get the right algorithm, like the Knuth Shuffle or whatever, it can be written just once and then reused forever. Even things like Platonic than algorithms, like APIs, can last for decades (recall Thompson’s lament that if he had it to do over, “I’d spell
creatwith an e.”). HTTP and email have been working protocols for decades and are essentially immortal.