BPM: Not Even Comic-Worthy

I don’t really think this is all that funny, but describing how I could conceivably make a comic strip might clarify my opinion on John Reynold’s recent blog entry: Why Do Java Developers Hate BPM?

In this blog entry, John rehashes some really, really, really old arguments:

BPM suites make programming boring. They force you to use point-and-click and drag-and-drop tools to design your process diagrams, data models and forms. What’s worse, they actually encourage Business People to model processes and design forms on their own.

And…

BPM suites are a threat to traditional Java programmers. These suites are far from perfect, but even in their current state we can see where things are heading. The days of the Java Guru as indispensable are fading.

Just substitute the word “CASE” instead of “BPM”. Or “UML”, or “4GL”, or “MDA”. They all fit the same template argument. (maybe we could turn this into some kind of Mad Libs exercise?)

The Comic Idea

Here’s how the comic strip would look…

Frame 1 - 1981

A picture of a guy (presumably James Martin, the author) holding up his 1981 book: Application Development without Programmers. He’d be saying something along the lines of “pretty soon CASE tools will make programmers irrelevant”.

Frame 2 - 1990s

Someone hawking some UML tool or 4GL. Again, claiming “pretty soon programmers won’t be needed.”.

Frame 3 - 2000s

A guy promoting OMG Model Driven Architecture. You can guess the claim.

Frame 4 - Now

You guessed it, BPM. The same old drivel about “point and click / drag and drop” application design.

I won’t make this comic, though. Not funny. Been there, done that.

I Cannot Say It Better Than…

Check out this quote from a 2005 Computerworld blog entry:

By the time technology has advanced far enough to create a really great tool for automagically producing a broad class of applications, it also has advanced far enough to support other kinds of application functionality that the tools don’t support (except possibly through major coding).

Trust me, your job as a highly talented computer programmer is quite secure.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 8:59 pm and is filed under Software Development. You can skip to the end and leave a response.