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> Programming has changed. In first generation languages like FORTRAN and C, the burden was on programmers to translate high-level concepts into code. With modern programming languages—I’ll use Python as an example—we use functions, objects, modules, and libraries to extend the language...

This is the first paragraph. I understand that it's just setting the stage, but it makes so little sense by itself that I had to make an effort to continue reading.

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Yeah, that was an odd start, given that Dr. Downey is a Professor of Computer Science. Even a charitable suggestion that he was looking to keep things as understandable as possible for a wide audience doesn't seem to give much defense.

I think he was trying to articulate how much more expressive/extensive programming languages and libraries (and tools?) have gotten over the years, so that a student can get to do something interesting with much less down-and-dirty arithmetic and arcana.

What has changed its the modules and libraries, which has exploded in availability.

The actual programming method haven't changed much since the dawn of Unix, or perhaps Lisp - although it took a while to spread.

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