Programmer's dearest material (8)
I believe the answer is:
lovelace
'programmer's' is the definition.
(Ada Lovelace often consider 1st programmer)
'dearest material' is the wordplay.
'dearest' becomes 'love' (synonyms).
'material' becomes 'lace' (lace is a kind of material).
'love'+'lace'='LOVELACE'
(Other definitions for lovelace that I've seen before include "Cavalier poet" , "Poet's daughter" .)