A computer programmer has the job of translating a computer user's commands into the stream of 1's and 0's required by the computer to complete a given task. His job is one that intermingles scientific principles and highly creative, expressive writing. The programmer, in effect, becomes the user. He decides what the user needs to do, how the computer needs to present information to the user to effectively allow the user to give the computer commands, what to do in case the user is unsure of what to do next and exactly, precisely tells the computer how to do these things in a language the computer can understand. Anthony Lawrence Clapes says, The programmer-as-playwright imagines the range of conversations that should take place with the program being created and writes code that will facilitate those conversations. This writing takes place largely in the mind of the programmer. As Frederick T. Brooks states,
The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff. He builds his castles in the air, from air, creating by exertion of the imagination. Few media of creation are so flexible, so easy to polish and rework, so readily capable of realizing grand conceptual structures. rogramming then is fun because it gratifies creative longings built deep within us and delights sensibilities we have in common with all men.
A computer program, then, is a highly intellectual creative expression that should be protected as intellectual property, much like the novel. In fact, Clapes continues, the intellectual content, not the package, is what is important and valuable about a computer program. Moreover, the intellectual content, not the package, is what costs money to create. This money spent developing computer software is vital to the future of the computer industry.
