The tasks engaged upon by a civil or structural engineer when designing a road or multistorey structure would appear to be ideal for digital computers. Some of the reasons why engineers do not use computers more heavily are examined and the fundamental difficulty due to the variable nature of the work is outlined. Some successful applications in structural and highway engineering are described where the calculation steps are sufficiently well ordered for a standard computer program to be successful. A new development, that of problem‐oriented language is described showing the advantages such systems have over conventional programs. Reference is made to GENESYS, a General Engineering System now being developed for the Ministry of Public Building and Works of the United Kingdom, which allows problem‐oriented languages to be devised for use in application.