Programming computers is hard because, as Hal put it, it isn't about programming, and it isn't about computers.

A wizard conjuring a computer program. Generated by Dall-E

Even the most mundane of programming issues are rooted in profound questions:

"Why are my dependencies broken?" => "What is causality?" ^[1]"Should I check for null?" => "When can we know a program is correct? Design time, compile time, or run time?" ^[2,3]"Why don't I understand this code?" => "What is memory, cognition, and language?" ^[4]"Why is this program buggy?" => "What is a proof?" ^[5,6]

While you'll overhear the questions on the left rising from the desks of developers on a Tuesday afternoon, their answers are surprisingly elusive and timeless.

References

Program Actions as Actual CausesNull References: The Billion Dollar MistakeThe Three Levels of SoftwareTacit knowledgeCurry-Howard correspondenceWould aliens understand lambda calculus?