Why This Is an Upgrade, Not the End

(Inspired by Grady Booch’s discussion on the Third Golden Age of Software Engineering)

This article is inspired by insights from Grady Booch, particularly his discussion on the third golden age of software engineering and the role of AI in shaping its future.

You can watch the original discussion here:
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMAtaocvJw

What follows is my synthesis and perspective, connecting Booch’s historical framing with today’s AI-driven transformation.

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We Are Not Witnessing the End of Software Engineering

We are entering its next golden age.

Grady Booch explains that software evolves through rising levels of abstraction. Each era changes how we build — and what skills matter.

AI is not replacing engineering.

It is pushing us upward again.

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The Three Golden Ages (According to Booch)

1️⃣ First Golden Age – Algorithmic Abstraction

Software separated from hardware. Compilers emerged. FORTRAN changed everything.

2️⃣ Second Golden Age – Object Abstraction

OOP addressed complexity. Reusable components flourished. Platforms began forming.

3️⃣ Third Golden Age – Platform Abstraction

Around the 2000s, abstraction rose again. Developers stopped building infrastructure and started building on top of:

• Cloud platforms
• Massive open-source libraries
• Distributed systems

Software became embedded into civilization.

AI now emerges as the next abstraction layer within this third golden age.

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Why AI Feels Existential

Every abstraction jump triggered fear:

• Assembly programmers feared compilers
• Procedural developers resisted OOP
• Today we fear AI code generation

But historically, abstraction:

• Eliminates lower-level friction
• Expands the creative surface area
• Demands higher-level thinking

AI automates pattern generation.
Engineering still requires judgment.

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What This Means for Us

AI will compress:

• Boilerplate work
• CRUD-heavy systems
• Repetitive scaffolding

But it will increase demand for:

• Systems thinking
• Architecture design
• Ethical engineering
• AI-human orchestration

The new engineer is not a typist.

The new engineer is a systems architect.

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Proper Credit

This perspective is directly inspired by the thinking and historical framing of Grady Booch, whose discussion on the third golden age of software engineering provides the foundation for this article.

If you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend it:
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMAtaocvJw

My contribution here is connecting his historical lens with today’s AI-driven agentic systems and platform-scale architecture realities.