For thirty years, I have been an electronics (hardware!) engineer. I doubt there have been more than a few weeks in a row where I didn’t need programming skills.
The last three months have been:
- Python scripts written to control measurement and test equipment.
- I hacked together some C++ to wrap around an Arduino embedded into a production test fixture
- Review embedded code for volume-manufactured products
- Written SQL procedures for extracting and analysing production test data
- To further process test data, I have written VB scripts in Excel
Although I am competent enough to perform this task, I don’t claim to have the experience of a software engineer. A decent level of programming skills is still a crucial part of my job. Therefore, any EE who can’t code competently would be considered lacking in a key skill.