: Novices who lack a stable mental model of how code executes (the "notional machine").
A software professional whose primary output is not source code, but executable specifications mediated through generative AI. They engage in prompt engineering, constraint definition, test generation, and AI output validation. Their cognitive load shifts from algorithmic implementation to architectural verification and value alignment. neo programmer
Generative AI confidently produces plausible but wrong code. Neo Programmers develop skeptical reading and adversarial testing habits. : Novices who lack a stable mental model
Increasingly, Neo Programmers oversee teams of autonomous software agents that propose, test, and deploy changes. The human’s role becomes supervisory : setting goals, reviewing agent proposals, and enforcing non-functional requirements. reviewing agent proposals