Against essential and accidental complexity

Long before computers were invented, elders have been telling the next generation that they've done everything that there is to be done and that the next generation won't be able to achieve more. Even without knowing any specifics about programming, we can look at how well these kinds of arguments have held up historically and have decent confidence that the elders are not, in fact, correct this time.

...Brooks' 1986 claim that we've basically captured all the productivity gains high-level languages can provide isn't too different from an assembly language programmer saying the same thing in 1955, thinking that assembly is as good as any language can be and that his claims about other categories are similar. The main thing these claims demonstrate are a lack of imagination.

A good reminder, I would venture, that even core web technologies will be pushed in the future. You don’t have to accept everything that comes down the road of innovation, but being able and willing to keep an open imagination is what’s important.