The standard library saves programmers from having to reinvent the wheel.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Programmers can be lazy.
No matter what, the way to learn to program is to write code and rewrite it and see it used and rewrite again. Reading other people's code is invaluable as well.
I am a programmer.
Thus, the standard library will serve as both a tool and as a teacher.
This whole phenomenon of the computer in a library is an amazing thing.
As a big user of public libraries, I deplore the cutbacks they have had to sustain.
It gives you great pleasure to know that millions of developers, day to day, make their living using the software that you created.
Writing software that's safe even in the presence of bugs makes the challenge even more interesting.
My list of basic tools is a partial answer to the question about what has changed: Over the past few years, large numbers of programmers have come to depend on elaborate tools to interface code with systems facilities.
The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it's too late.