somewhat in that spirit, I like Gerald Sussman's interpretation of software development as "problem solving by debugging-almost right plans", in e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MYzvQ1v8Ww

I was trying to articulate the idea that code generation tools will become increasingly sophisticated and capable, but still be tools that require operation by engineers for maximal effect. I see them as just another abstraction mechanism that will exist within the various layers that separate a dev from the metal. That doesn’t mean the capabilities of such tools are limited to where they are today, and it doesn’t mean that programmers won’t need to learn new ways of operating their tools.

I also hinted at it, but there’s nothing to say that our orchestration of such systems needs to be done in natural language. We are already skilled at representing procedures and systems in code like you said; there’s no reason to think we wouldn’t be adept at learning new languages specialized for specifying higher order designs in a more compact but still rigorous form to codegen systems. it seems reasonable to think that we will start developing DSLs and the like for communicating program and system design to codegen systems in a precise manner. One obvious way of thinking about that is by specifying interfaces and test cases in a rigorous manner and letting the details be filled in - obviously attempts at that now exhibit lots of poor implementation decisions inside of the methods, but that is not a universal phenomenon that will always hold.