Programming is in tension between the Light Side and the Dark Side.

The Light Side believes in giving people freedom and power to achieve freedom, to allow themselves to express themselves better through programming, to become better programmers through the tools the light side provides; in the Light Side believes in programming as a way of thinking.

The Dark Side believes that people are incapable of handling freedom and must be restricted and controlled under the service of various organizations - generally companies. The companies will control access to programming and control the programmers via this access. The dark side does not believe in making programmers better programmers, it believes in managing programmers. The dark side does not believe in helping programmers to think, it believes in thinking for them.