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Star Trek, for being a show about the distant future and extraordinarily high-tech equipment, sure seems to be lacking a lot of computer programmers.

With technology as complex as it is, where are all the starship-based computer programmers responsible for preventing AI malfunctions aboard ships like the Enterprise?

More specifically, we hear plenty of references to having to 'program in' certain things - Picard is dismayed in "All Good Things" that the past Enterprise doesn't yet have an Earl Grey Tea program, and we see plenty of holodeck programming going on, but is all of this programming done explicitly by the crewmember who just wants a cup of tea or a nice stroll along a sandy beach?

In short: Are there any actual dedicated computer programmers in any Star Trek series or movie? Even one example of a person with such a job would satisfy.

Valorum
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Zibbobz
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    lcarscc -o Riker1 Riker1.lcars – Stick Mar 26 '14 at 15:15
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    One could argue that Doctor Zimmerman, creator of the EMH, is a programmer. – Xantec Mar 26 '14 at 15:35
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    There are a number of episodes featuring computer geniuses who have come up with new computers/programs that the plot revolves around, like Richard Daystrom in the original series (bio at http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Richard_Daystrom ) or Noonien Soong and Ira Graves on TNG (bios at http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Noonian_Soong and http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Ira_Graves ). But I can't think of any more "ordinary" programmers, just responsible for maintenance and such, that have appeared on the show. – Hypnosifl Mar 26 '14 at 16:16
  • Not to mention, all of them seem to be involved in things other than 'just' programming, though the EMH program comes close (if we consider a holoprogram nothing more than a program) – Zibbobz Mar 26 '14 at 16:22
  • @Xantec Zimmerman is an AI researcher, which pretty much requires you to also be a programmer. That IMO is sufficient for an answer. – Izkata Mar 26 '14 at 16:25
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    @Hypnosifl The "ordinary" programmers are walking around in gold uniforms. – Xantec Mar 26 '14 at 16:27
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    You don't find programmers working on naval ships today (much), though I'm sure plenty of sailors are able to program to the extent that it is a secondary aspect of their job. – Chris B. Behrens Mar 26 '14 at 16:32
  • Also - do we ever see snippets of programming code on one of the monitors in Star Trek? A glimpse of a few if-then statemenets or a do loop? – RobertF Mar 26 '14 at 21:27
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    I wonder if Scotty had to do any programming/hacking to get the Macintosh Plus to display the Transparent Aluminum model. – Zoredache Mar 26 '14 at 22:28
  • @RobertF As I mentioned in a comment on my answer, not exactly - but yes. It looks like the nodes in a dataflow programming graph – Izkata Mar 26 '14 at 23:19
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    Remember that we hear references to "programming" by the average person in the real world today too: you program TV recorders, microwaves, etc. It's believable that the common usage of "programming" could evolve to mean something other than designing algorithms. On the other hand, people are also often talking about "subroutines" in Star Trek... – nmclean Mar 27 '14 at 14:03
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    Spock programs his ass off in a couple of the original series episodes. Unfortunately, apparently his programming skills are limited to pressing no more than 3 buttons, and swapping out some cards from slots (which was kind of cool for the time, anyway!). – moodboom Mar 27 '14 at 21:06
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    Shannon Hurley is credited as a "Programmer" in the Voyager episode 'The Thaw'; http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Unnamed_Kohl – Valorum Mar 28 '14 at 21:50
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    There's a chance they predicted the change in education that's coming along around the world: programming ability is taught in schools from an early age, and there's every chance that, simply put, everyone is familiar with programming. The EMH's programmer is likely to have handled a breakthrough with his program (or with the later versions at least), but everyone seems to be able to code as well. – MMJZ Mar 29 '14 at 12:10
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    The computer can be programmed in natural language, so every character on the show is a programmer. – endolith Mar 30 '14 at 01:01
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    @endolith - I think the show makes it clear that there's a vast difference between real programming and using the standard interface to tell the computer to make a custom program – Valorum Mar 30 '14 at 10:22
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    @Richard: Where is this ever shown? – endolith Mar 30 '14 at 19:44
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    @endolith - Voyager (Message in a Bottle) shows the difference between programming and using the main interface. Paris thinks he can create a new EMH simply by uploading all medical files to a holo-character. It fails massively. – Valorum Mar 30 '14 at 19:56
  • @Richard: Voyager also shows warp 10 being broken and turning people into amphibians. :D – endolith Mar 31 '14 at 01:44
  • I bet Wesley Crusher was an ace at programming among his numerous other talents :P – George Bora Mar 31 '14 at 13:15
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    @endolith The less said about Threshhold, the better. – Zibbobz Mar 31 '14 at 13:18
  • Of course they have programmers. However, according to their status, they're called "Security" and participate in an inordinate number of away teams. – msw Sep 12 '14 at 00:50
  • @robertf It's all VB-style drag'n'drop - e.g. no one has a clue what their generated code is actually doing – Phil Lello Feb 05 '16 at 15:30
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    They don't even really type. I think their computers got so smart and their GUI / voice control so good that typing and programmers became obsolete. The computers probably have programs that develop other programs. –  Mar 15 '16 at 23:33

13 Answers13

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Off the top of my head I can think of at least two examples;

Dr. Lewis Zimmerman

Dr Zimmerman is responsible for developing the software for the EMH (Emergency Medical Hologram). He works at Jupiter station. His job title is explicitly stated as being "Director of Holographic Imaging and Programming" in the DS9 episode Doctor Bashir, I Presume.

Dr Zimmerman

The Bynars

In the TNG episode "11001001" two pairs of Bynar programmers (named 11, 00, 10 and 01) come on board the Enterprise to perform an upgrade to the ship's operating system and holodeck systems.

The Bynars

Regarding 'ordinary' programmers, there's a tangential reference in TNG: Home Soil to the ship having a "programmers’ restroom". This room seems to be connected (or at least near to) Main Engineering:

RIKER: Status, Ensign?

ENGINEER: The quarantine seal is getting weaker. Every time I try to redirect backup... it goes somewhere else. (feeling crazy) I think I've... it's... locked three people in a turbolift and two more in the programmers' restroom.

Valorum
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    Exact examples of programmers, complete with title and products to back up the claims. Perfect. – Zibbobz Mar 26 '14 at 16:53
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    I would include Dr. Soong in this list; while he made great leaps and bounds in engineering designing his androids, their AI programs are similarly unique in the known universe. (Soong's wife also assisted on at least the development of both Lore and Data.) – Brian S Mar 26 '14 at 18:20
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    The act of programming seems to have returned to it's roots. The word "programming" used to be nothing but a schedule. Now, people speak to computers to interpret the actions and associated schedules. People have returned to using exceedingly fuzzy language to specify imprecisely the true plans of the machines. The Binar being an interesting possible exception, though they are more of an extension of their central computer than separate beings. – Lodewijk Mar 27 '14 at 00:26
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    Are the Bynars programmers or more like network techs and sysadmins? – mu is too short Mar 27 '14 at 03:00
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    @muistooshort I'd say they're support techs sent out by the vendor to do a field upgrade. – hobbs Mar 27 '14 at 05:23
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    Wow, whatever happened to the Bynars? I imagine the Federation benefited greatly from their computer expertise! – RobertF Mar 27 '14 at 13:21
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    The Bynars seem to have suffered no long term sanction for their decision to kidnap picard and the enterprise. I'm assuming they gave a 10% discount on their next service. – Valorum Mar 27 '14 at 13:24
  • @Valorum That's a normal Tuesday afternoon for the typical field-circus tech. – Sebastian Lenartowicz Aug 20 '21 at 07:34
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There's so much leisurely dialog about how someone somewhere has "written a program" that handle tasks from the banal to the impressive, that one almost has to assume that everyone has a little bit of LCARS 'scripting' knowledge.

Of course, what it actually means to 'write' a program in the 24th century is up for debate. There's not a ton of time spent on the actual writing of the programs, just… that they were written.

For all we know it's a simple matter of speaking, "Computer!… new Holodeck program; give me an approximation of the last known venue Mark Sandman from the ancient Earth band 'Morphine' played at." And the computer accounts for your bad English and compiles the program. Then you turn to your date and smile and say, "So, I've written this program…"

Stick
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    “Then you turn to your date and smile and say, "So, I've written this program…"” — stop stealing my moves dude. – Paul D. Waite Mar 26 '14 at 15:24
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    Being able to write a script or a program is not the same as being a programmer. The question is asking if there is anyone whose job is as a dedicated programmer. – phantom42 Mar 26 '14 at 15:26
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    As a programmer, the idea that this would be considered 'writing a program' is horrifying...but as a designer, the idea that 'writing a program' could be this simple is enthralling. – Zibbobz Mar 26 '14 at 15:27
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    @Zibbobz In the future, every script kiddie is a "programmer". The word has been even more bastardized than the word "hacker". – phantom42 Mar 26 '14 at 15:28
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    From Voyager (Doctors program has gone to hell) KIM -> Ill insert a few recursive algorithms" (Doctor now totally fixed) – Steven Wood Mar 26 '14 at 15:42
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    I saw Morphine on Mark Sandman's his last tour, it was a pretty rockin show. Too bad about him though. – Mark Rogers Mar 26 '14 at 15:49
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    @Zibbobz No different from "programming" a video recorder today. (Except that using a video recorder is probably more difficult than actual programming) – CodesInChaos Mar 28 '14 at 14:21
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    @Zibbobz Sort of, but it also could be seen as a natural evolution of programming tools. For example, I can drag-and-drop GUI elements in, say, QtCreator. Years ago I would have had to have knowledge of platform-specific GUI toolkits. Before that, knowledge of directly drawing to the screen. Before that, knowledge of video memory layouts and formats, and machine assembler. Tools have evolved to increase productivity by building on past experience and reducing the need to reinvent wheels. I imagine the evolution continues into the future. Of course, somebody's got to write those tools! – Jason C Mar 29 '14 at 18:44
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    @phantom42: Human prose is so riddled with ambiguities that any program "written" this way is bound to fail. The real work involved in programming isn't about "making the computer do what you want", but rather, "be clear about what you want exactly"... – DevSolar May 02 '14 at 10:02
  • This answer brings up an interesting point: Yes, "programming" is presumeably very easy that way, as long as you "program" something that is merely an instance of some template. The template can be historical records, or anything more complicated. Of course, "new" elements can be added by inserting single objects from elsewhere. For instance, by adding a knight into that last known venue. Adding 100 knights? Done ... as long as you don't want them positioned in any particular way. Adding 100 knights positioned in a particular way? That's where things start getting complicated. ... – O. R. Mapper Apr 23 '15 at 17:10
  • ... It's "programming" on about the same level as cutting and pasting parts of photos together is "painting". – O. R. Mapper Apr 23 '15 at 17:11
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    @O.R.Mapper: Or photography, for that matter. – Kevin Aug 24 '15 at 20:48
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    @DevSolar - "Computer, give me an opponent who can outthink Data." – Jeff Apr 12 '18 at 23:12
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Engineers like Geordi and Torres tend to dual as programmers - which makes sense, as some level of software knowledge is necessary for their career paths.

For example, Geordi can be seen debugging an Exocomp in TNG 6x09, The Quality of Life. This was technically dealing with the hardware, as they were dealing with circuit pathways, but conceptually it's the same thing - and technology in Star Trek has a tendency to conflate the two.

For a more real-life type of programmer, Harry Kim is a good example. In VOY 5x08, Nothing Human, he created a holographic Crell Moset, with the appropriate skill set to assist the Doctor with the alien life-form. Giving the hologram the correct personality largely didn't need any specialized skills, as it happens often on the holodeck, but replicating the skill set required more work. In another episode (which I cannot recall at the moment), he demonstrated to Paris how difficult it was to create a useful replacement for the Doctor.

Izkata
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    I'd even go so far as to speculate that all computer information, and thus all programs, are hardware "circuit pathways". In TNG Evolutions it is revealed that the computer cores are made of a "linear memory crystal". In such an arrangement it is possible that all programming can be physically viewed as pathways in the crystals. – Xantec Mar 26 '14 at 16:49
  • I was thinking of the Engineering staff actually, and I know for a fact that O'Brian created a 'program' to capture an electronic lifeform from the Gamma Quadrant in an endless loop (can't remember the episode name). I was looking for someone specifically focused on programming and not a multi-hat-wearing individual, but this is still a good answer. – Zibbobz Mar 26 '14 at 16:54
  • @Xantec within TNG and DS9 (on the Defiant, at least), they used isolinear chips, each of which seemed to be a single node in dataflow programming, which itself seems to be what LCARS programming was based upon. – Izkata Mar 26 '14 at 16:54
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    @Zibbobz You're thinking of the episode The Forsaken. – Xantec Mar 26 '14 at 17:00
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    @Zibbobz See my previous comment, too - like I said in the answer, Star Trek seems to often combine hardware and software into one "programming" mashup. Harry Kim often seemed undirected as a character, and I think "programmer" is the hat he ended up wearing by the end of the series, even though he also had other duties. – Izkata Mar 26 '14 at 17:03
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    Note that there's an important out-of-universe reason for "programming" to involve swapping out chips rather than realistically staring at code: it's a hell of a lot more interesting to watch. –  Mar 27 '14 at 03:52
  • I think you could throw Reginald Barclay in with LaForge and Torres, especially given his extensive experience with photonics. – mu is too short Mar 27 '14 at 05:43
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    As a programmer myself, there is such thing as "hardware programming." They are called FFPGA chips: you write high-level code, which a compiler turns into a physical arrangement of transistor switches on the chip. So in this case your program is represented by the physical paths in the hardware. – phreakhead Oct 12 '14 at 23:02
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    @JonofAllTrades: Frankly, I never found watching someone swap out chips could be considered "interesting". Much rather than that, I suspect the people in charge usually do not have the slightest idea what "programming" is (with nowadays' technology), and thus assume it's either some complicated stuff related to soldering wires and putting circuit chips into slots, or some equally complicated stuff based on pressing buttons on the screen, or even walking through 3D landscapes, in windows that "only programmers can open". "Programming languages? That's how IT folks talk to each other, right?" – O. R. Mapper Apr 23 '15 at 17:04
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    You might want to add reference to Torres' abilities in VOY 'Dreadnought' where we learn she reprogrammed the Cardassian Missle nicknamed Dreadnought ;) – Often Right Apr 06 '16 at 00:25
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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Dr. Daystrom, the inventor of the intelligent computer M5.

enter image description here

"You are great...I am great"

Oldcat
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    I considered him but decided that Daystrom didn't count since he didn't program the M5, he "developed a method of impressing human engrams upon the computer circuits". His achievements weren't in computing (per se), they were in engineering. For the same reason I also excluded Ira Graves. – Valorum Mar 26 '14 at 18:04
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    He also developed all the other computers in the old series that did not use engrams. – Oldcat Mar 26 '14 at 18:22
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    There's also Spock saying something to the effect of "being a level seven computer expert" so Spock might qualify as well. – mu is too short Mar 27 '14 at 03:03
  • @Richard: At least nowadays, "a method for " is often used as a less technical way of referring to an algorithm. I'm not convinced his achievements were anywhere else than in computing. – O. R. Mapper Apr 23 '15 at 16:59
  • https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/199086/51174 – uhoh Nov 22 '18 at 01:46
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What about Scotty programming a Macintosh of all things, in Star Trek IV? (His initial attempt at talking into the mouse was not fruitful, but he quickly adapted.)

Scotty talking into a mouse

And Kirk hacked the Kobyashi Maru program.

Kirk destroying the Klingon ships with a finger gun

Mark Adler
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    OP was after people who're employed as programmers, not just people who do the odd bit of programming. – Valorum Mar 27 '14 at 22:14
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    I'd like to argue that the new StarTrek movies aren't cannon. – IQAndreas Mar 29 '14 at 14:05
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    Yep, doesn't answer the dedicated part, new movies might not be canon (and they're certainly not cannons), and many other issues (couldn't Scotty have just written down the structure and process for transparent aluminum on a piece of paper?). Hence I upvoted the Zimmerman/Bynar answer. As for this answer, you don't have to be right to be entertaining. – Mark Adler Mar 30 '14 at 04:49
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    -1, Scotty entering a chemical formula (albeit complicated) into a macintosh is hardly programming. – McKay Mar 31 '14 at 12:54
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    @IQAndreas The idea that Kirk reprogrammed the Kobayashi Maru is not from the new Star Trek movies. It is from at least 1989, and possibly from 1982 when The Wrath of Khan was released. – Brady Gilg Sep 25 '15 at 22:46
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With the advancement of voice interaction systems, programming has mostly become natural language programming. You have a conversation with the computer about what you want it to accomplish. If there are parts it cannot construct from basic capabilities or existing programming, it will interrogate the programmer for additional information until they come to a final solution.

Only the most esoteric of programming (such as developing the first AI) would require a professional programmer. The vast majority of programming would be handled by the masses. I think this is keeping in line with the thinking of many futurists.

rich remer
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    It may be in line with the thinking of many futurists, but certainly isn't in line with the thinking of actual programmers. – Wouter Lievens Mar 27 '14 at 14:44
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    @WouterLievens: As a professional programmer I doubt we'll ever be completely obsolete. And there was a Star Trek novel where an agent infiltrates the Enterprise crew and hacks herself senior officer computer access by going in through Engineering and rewriting some very low level computer routines. With a keyboard. – Zan Lynx Mar 28 '14 at 16:57
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    I'd express it stronger than that: if you "replace" the programmer by means of an intelligent computer system that simply "does what it's told to do", you'll still have people telling the system what it needs to do. Those people are (by definition) called programmers. All you've done is given them a higher-level programming language, much like we've been doing for the past fifty years anyway. – Wouter Lievens Mar 31 '14 at 07:15
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In the second Star Trek movie Wrath of Khan, Kirk says;

Kirk: "I reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to rescue the ship."
Saavik: "What?"
David Marcus: "He cheated."
Kirk: "I changed the conditions of the test. I got a commendation for original thinking. I don't like to lose."

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11

A few others who haven't already been mentioned in the answers so far:

Noonien Soong

(When I came across this question, I had to add him in!)

Soong

Artificial Intelligence programmer of Data, Lore, B4, the three prototypes and Juliana Tainer's android body.

(Read More)

Ira Graves

Ira Graves

Molecular Cyberneticist

(Read More)

Juliana Tainer

Juliana Tainer

The wife of Dr Soong and co-programmer of the Soong-type androids.

(Read More)

Emil Vaslovik (Flint)

enter image description here

Creater of Rayna

(non-canon): Companion of Dr Soong and Dr Graves

(Read More)

Cren Veruda (non-canon)

A Cardassian cyberneticist, described by Elias Vaughn :

as being Cardassia's answer to Soong or Richard Daystrom. (DS9 - Mission Gamma novel: Lesser Evil)

(Read More)

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Often Right
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    Great work, @N_Soong: +1. One minor critique: you should have used your avatar image for Noonien Soong! :-) – Praxis Aug 19 '15 at 01:27
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Yes, there are pure programmers. In the Star Trek TNG episode 11001001 we meet the Bynars, a race specialize in programming. Their task for the episode was to maximize space and efficiency of the main computer. For most characters the show tends to treat programming as a skill that all Starfleet staff (especially engineering and science staff) have to differing levels of ability.

For example, Spock programmed the Kobayashi Maru in the reboot.

Valorum
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In Star Trek Discovery, Michael Burnham is tasked with finding an error in some code.

enter image description here enter image description here

Servitor
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    This isn't her dedicated job. – Valorum Apr 12 '18 at 19:55
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    @Valorum Perhaps, but it shows that programming languages are alive and well. Even if we argue that it's possible the code is being generated by AI, the fact it needs to be fixed heresuggests that it's imperfect and sometimes needs to be debugged or coded manually. I think it's pretty good evidence that programmers exist (with programming and/or debugging both being functions of "programmers"). Yes, it doesn't prove it, but I think we can generally accept the argument that if a function needs to be done by people, there are probably experts who specialize in that function. – ThePopMachine Apr 12 '18 at 20:14
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    her dedicated job is to do what her commanding officer orders her to do - being competent enough to debug code qualifies her as a programmer imo – NKCampbell Apr 12 '18 at 20:22
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    Starfleet uses Windows? Oh dear. – JAB Apr 12 '18 at 20:43
  • @NKCampbell - I fixed a faulty window at work yesterday. That doesn't make me a janitor. – Valorum Apr 12 '18 at 20:53
  • @JAB - yeah, but at least they're finally removing the bugs from it... – Jules Apr 13 '18 at 16:11
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    Even though this isn't her only task, I'd argue this is the closest we've seen to someone programming in Star Trek outside of asking the computer to make something in an English phrase or bringing in a computer/android that was programmed off screen. – Servitor Apr 13 '18 at 23:06
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No one dedicated that I'm aware of, but in addition to the other things mentioned:

  1. Spock programmed the computer to play chess (mentioned for example on the episode where someone frames Kirk and erases the computer in the process, ergo the chess game suddenly was much dumber than previous)

  2. From the James Blish novelizations (not sure if the TV episodes made reference to this or not), there was at least one scene in which Kirk, Uhura, and Spock (if memory serves) were captured by people who spoke English and so Kirk, Uhura, and Spock communicated using a hodge podge of various other spoken languages plus Cobol or some other programming language. Not sure if this was attempt at being hip or part of the original script, but would suggest that in the future most people going through the Academy had to take a semester or two of Computer Science 101. (Presumably still using tapes at the primary mechanism for storing data)

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I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Lt. Barclay's fantastic holodeck work. I've heard it's very popular with the crew.

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In one of the official novels (this one?), Sarek was teaching computer programming. He even cracked a joke: evaluating a navigation program that fell on the floor when the test question was entered, he quipped "you can't get there from here."

In another novel, there was a computer complex that was populated by super intelligent AI's that were more sentient than everyone realized, and thought great and deep thoughts and might sometimes report a result to the outside world. Perhaps they did the programming of ordinary machines.

The novels were written in the mid 70's through mid 80's and had more awareness of computers than the time of TOS ten years previous.

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