# So Long, Prog21

DevFeed: [So Long, Prog21](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/so-long-prog21-21082.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<http://prog21.dadgum.com/229.html>)

Author: James Hague

Published: 2017-01-04T06:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [James Hague](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/james-hague.md>)

Topics: [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>), [Software](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software.md>)

Tags: [articles](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/articles.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [retrospective](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/retrospective.md>), [technical](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/technical.md>)

## AI overview

The author explains why he is ending Programming in the 21st Century after more than 200 articles. He reflects on the blog's shift from creative and cultural topics toward technical programming subjects, and describes moving toward using technology to create enjoyable things.

## Source excerpt

I always intended "Programming in the 21st Century" to have a limited run. I knew since the Recovering Programmer entry from January 1, 2010, that I needed to end it. It just took a while. And now, an explanation. I started this blog to talk about issues tangentially related to programming, about soft topics like creativity and inspiration and how code is a medium for implementing creative visions. Instead I worked through more technical topics that I'd been kicking around over the years. That was fun! Purely Functional Retrogames is something I would have loved to read in 1998. More than once I've googled around and ended up back at one of my essays. As I started shifting gears and getting back toward what I originally wanted to do, there was one thing that kept bothering me: the word programming in the title. I don't think of myself as a programmer. I write code, and I often enjoy it when I do, but that term programmer is both limiting and distracting. I don't want to program for its own sake, not being interested in the overall experience of what I'm creating. If I start thinking too much about programming as a distinct entity then I lose sight of that. Now that I've exhausted what I wanted to write about, I can clear those topics out of my head and focus more on using technology to make fun things. Thanks for reading! It's hard to sum up 200+ articles, but here's a start. This is not even close to a full index. See the archives if you want everything. (There are some odd bits in there.) widely linked Things That Turbo Pascal is Smaller Than Do You Really Want to be Doing This When You're 50? Organizational Skills Beat Algorithmic Wizardry Retiring Python as a Teaching Language Computer Science Courses that Don't Exist, But Should popular Five Memorable Books About Programming A Spellchecker Used to Be a Major Feat of Software Engineering Want to Write a Compiler? Just Read These Two Papers. On Being Sufficiently Smart Optimizing for Fan Noise Free Your Technical