“What if everyone is able to program?” – Exploring the Role of Software Development in Science Fiction

For decades, research around emerging technologies has been inspired by science fiction and vice versa. While so far almost only the technologies themselves have been considered, we explore the underlying software development and programming approaches. We therefore conduct a detailed media content analysis of twenty-seven movies that examines the role of software development in science fiction by identifying and investigating new approaches to programming and how software development is conceptualized portrayed within science fiction scenes. With the additional analysis of eighteen design fiction stories exploring the scenario “What if everyone is able to program?”, we envision potential impacts of the democratization of software development on business and society. Our study opens new discussions and perspectives, by investigating the current vision of the future of programming and uncovers new approaches to software development which can serve as a starting point for further research in the HCI community.