Well, I never.
In days long ago when I first started out in IT, the language of choice for any serious developer had to be Assembly, whether it be Z80, 6510 or 6502. In-machine memory was small and expensive and developers needed to produce code that was tight, efficient and compact. Things progressed, memory became cheap and newer, ’easier’ programming languages took hold.
Now, with the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) the demand for Assembly language skills seem, to be once more, on the rise. According to Tiobe's programming language index, Assembly just cracked the top-10.
It is no surprise that the languages most in demand are still C, C++ and Java, but this blogger, for one, never imagined a time when Assembly would once more appear in the top 10.
The most likely reasons that we are seeing this trend is the growth in small devices that, by nature of their size, have a need for the compact coding footprint of that once popular form of programming. Plus, Assembly code for a set chip-set can run on just about any device that makes use of that chip-set.
As IoT technology evolves we may see a reversal in the ‘rise from the ashes’ of Assembly, new technology may once more allow the use of looser, bigger foot print languages. But for now, as a developer, you could do a lot worse than dusting of your old Assembly skills.
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Will Hogarth
CTO @ VGS Media
Will Hogarth is a long time geek, writer and long distance
triathlete, with extensive experience in most areas of the IT World. Will is a
former games developer, DBA and project manager, but unlike most geeks he has a
passion for the outdoors and a life of adventure.
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