Article by Ayman Alheraki on April 30 2025 05:09 PM
In the midst of rapid advancements in the software world, many universities and technical institutes have shifted their focus towards high-level programming languages such as Python, Java, and JavaScript. While this may seem like a logical step to prepare students for modern job markets, the long-term consequences of neglecting low-level programming—namely Machine Language and Assembly Language—are becoming increasingly evident, especially when there's a real need for developers capable of working close to the hardware.
Most software engineering programs in our region dedicate only a single course—or fragments of multiple courses—to Assembly Language, often taught in a rigid theoretical manner without connecting it to modern processor architectures like ARM or x86-64. These languages are commonly seen as "obsolete," even though they continue to evolve alongside modern processors and remain critical for many types of software, especially low-level systems.
Whether you're building an operating system kernel, writing embedded software that interacts directly with hardware, or optimizing performance-critical system components, you’ll quickly encounter a severe skills gap. This has been my own experience: although many local graduates claim to be skilled in low-level programming, their understanding of machine-level instruction execution and architecture was extremely superficial. I was forced to search internationally—often in Eastern Europe or Asia—and offer significantly higher salaries to secure the right expertise.
Limited System Understanding: A weak grasp of how instructions flow through the processor hampers debugging, performance analysis, and system-level optimization.
Overreliance on High-Level Tools: Students become proficient users of frameworks rather than engineers capable of building new platforms from scratch.
Inability to Innovate at the Hardware/OS Level: Without deep knowledge of low-level mechanics, local developers are unable to lead the development of competitive operating systems, embedded solutions, or smart devices.
Curriculum Redesign: Introduce modern processor architecture, machine language, and assembly programming as core, multi-semester subjects.
Hands-On Projects: Assign practical work such as writing bootloaders, simulating instruction execution, or building small tools using Assembly.
Industry Partnerships: Collaborate with companies working in embedded systems, smart devices, or systems programming to provide real-world training opportunities.
Programming is not just about writing code in high-level languages; it’s about understanding how those instructions are executed at the lowest level and how hardware interacts with software. Ignoring machine language and assembly in technical education means raising a generation that lacks the capacity to build real software infrastructure. If we aim for genuine technical independence and innovation, we must restore these languages to their rightful place in academic and practical training.
