In addition to passionate supporters, the engineering view of computing has also strong opponents. In their attempt to improve computing’s academic status, many pioneers of computing downplayed computing’s constructive character and highlighted its theoretical aspects ( Tedre, 2014 ). Early soft ware engineering was accused of sloppy methodology and lack of rigorous theories. Some pointed out the short life- span of technical inventions: as a fundamental discipline, computing should focus on enduring fundamental principles instead of technological solutions that became obsolete quickly ( Wegner, 1970 ). Many theoretically orientated pioneers of computing wanted to see computing focus on what is common to the use of any computer in any application instead of technical details or societal aspects of computing.

It will be. See, it's such a new thing. People used to get Ph.D. theses for doing work that we now expect programmers to do as part of their jobs. Computer science is developing very quickly, but unlike math, where they've had 300 years of geniuses developing mathematical theory, we just have our 20 or so years of the people who decided to get involved. Really brilliant people are getting involved and contributing; programming is much more of a mainstream activity now. The fact that people are getting exposed to computers at such young ages now will help change the thinking in the field. A lot of great programmers programmed when they were in their teens, when the way you think about things is perhaps more flexible. In the past, it wasn't considered enough just to be a wonderful programmer; you had to manage people or go do other things. Fortunately, that's changing. Now people realize that it's a science that is worth sticking to and teaching other people.