Decoupling Low-Level Programming from Systems Design: Rethinking "Systems Programming"
This article explores the evolution of the term "systems programming." The author argues that it conflates two distinct ideas: low-level programming (dealing with machine implementation details) and systems design (creating and managing complex interacting components). From the 1970s improvements on assembly to the rise of scripting languages in the 1990s and the performance advancements of today's languages, the boundaries of systems programming have blurred. The author proposes redefining "systems programming" as "low-level programming," leaving systems design as a separate field. He argues that functional programming principles are valuable in systems design and suggests separating low-level programming and systems design instruction in computer science education to foster cross-pollination of ideas.
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