The Old Way is Obsolete
I used to tell people to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Build a to-do list, and you’ll be on your way. The advice was simple: start with the basics, learn the syntax, and get a good understanding of how to write code.
However, I’m starting to realize now, with the way things are shifting and the tools we have at our disposal, that this advice is becoming outdated. With AI agents, vibe coding, and other advanced tools, the need for writing code manually is diminishing. Learning the basics of syntax—things like writing a function, a for loop, or a conditional statement—is becoming so easy for a machine to do.
As a beginner trying to learn how to code, you don’t really need to learn how to do those things anymore. You need to understand what those things do. Chances are, you might not be writing any for loops or if-else statements yourself. You might not be writing out a function manually ever again. It’s a crazy thought, but it’s the reality of how things are shifting. This has changed the way we developers work and how people who want to become developers should learn.
I don’t think there’s any value in manually writing out syntax on your own anymore. If anything, it’s a waste of time. It makes you less productive.
Are Traditional Learning Resources Dead?
So then, is there value in learning that stuff? Or spending a lot of time learning it? Or even any time at all?
Could you learn enough through osmosis, simply by reading AI-generated code? As someone who doesn’t understand code at all, could you just have agents and chats help you build things and eventually understand what’s going on?
I think that things that teach you the basics, like boot camps that spend nine weeks on the fundamentals of web development to build a simple app, aren’t worth it anymore. I never thought they were really worth it to begin with, but now even courses and tutorials feel like a thing of the past. They’re almost obsolete at this point because you don’t really need them. You can just prompt a chat to explain things to you or an agent to help you build things. You don’t need to spend all that time learning those things.
From Coder to AI Manager
We’re moving from a writing-code era to a managing-agents era. We are becoming glorified project managers who understand code. Is that what we will be as developers? And is that how you should be thinking as somebody trying to break into this industry now? Maybe that’s where this new buzzword I keep hearing, “product engineer,” comes from.
Tools like AI are going to make us do more work but also less work. Now that AI is writing a lot of the code, we do less of that and have to become more focused on problem-solving, which was originally what our job was. But we also had to write a lot of the code. Now, we just have to review it. The grunt work is gone.
That was the grunt work—being in the trenches, writing code. But that was also some of the best parts of it. That was when you’d get in a state of flow, with the right music on, just hacking away and writing code by hand. I haven’t felt that in a while. Honestly, my job has gotten a little bit more boring because I don’t do that anymore. I can’t really remember the last time I was in a flow state, just writing out code. It’s been a while. I just keep prompting AI to give me what I need, and when it’s good, I run with it.
Occasionally, I have to go in and do some manual tweaks. But even for simple things, I’ve found that I’ve gotten a little lazy. I just prompt whatever model I’m using to give me what I want. Even if it’s just changing a few lines, I’ll highlight it and ask Copilot, “Hey, change this for me real quick,” because I don’t feel like changing a couple of lines of code anymore. It’s crazy. It’s interesting.
The Junior Developer’s Dilemma
So, what does this mean for juniors? What does this mean for people who are just getting started?
If the writing-code part isn’t the challenge anymore, if that’s not what we’re hiring people for, then what you need to focus on is solving problems. You might have to think about more high-level stuff like architecture, database schemas, and how an application should work from end to end. You’ll need a better understanding of the things you might want to specialize in.
It’s a double-edged sword. You have these tools that can teach you everything, but they also make everything so easy that you feel like you don’t need to learn. But eventually, everybody that’s vibe coding and trying to build stuff without really trying to learn how everything works will shoot themselves in the foot. They’ll hit a roadblock they won’t understand how to fix.
It gets really tricky now. Sure, you can skim over the basics. Before, you needed a good understanding of them. But at what point do you need the basics again to understand what you’re doing? If you skip over the basics and the intermediate stuff and just have these applications being built on their own without knowing what’s going on, you’re going to be screwed, right?
I have experience. I am capable of understanding what my code is doing. I know how to debug code manually. I’ve done it with and without AI, and AI is helpful. Many times, it can find a bug for me quicker than I can. But there are still times when it can’t, and I have to go in there and figure stuff out with my experience. If you never gain that experience, we’re headed for some weird times.
The Bar is Higher, But Entry is Easier
On a positive note, the barrier to entry is the lowest it’s ever been. If you want to build an idea right now, you can do it. Anybody can build anything right now, and people are doing it.
But if you’re trying to get a job in this industry, what does that mean? Do you just have to build a whole bunch of big stuff? I really have a feeling that this is the death of the junior developer. The truth is, you shouldn’t just have an HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to-do list as your main project. Building big, complex projects and systems is going to be what you need to do because the little apps that used to be enough aren’t going to be enough anymore.
You’re going to have to step it up. It’s still going to take you time to build those things, and that will still bring value. You should still be learning and doing your best to learn as you build, even if you have AI helping you along the way.
The Path Forward: Focus on the Big Picture
So, stop trying to memorize syntax and little things that AI does so easily. Start trying to focus on the bigger picture: how applications should be built, how problems are solved, and things that will bring value. Show that you understand more than just where a semicolon needs to go. Show that you understand how things should be working.
You still have to have a little bit of initiative because the average person isn’t doing this. Most people don’t have the initiative or the follow-through to learn and use these tools, even though it’s the easiest time right now to build an app, learn to code, and have your own personal pair-programming senior developer who can help you with any problem. We have that capability now, but people still aren’t using it.
That’s the reality of it. And that’s why I still think that we’re probably still safe. We’re still going to be needed. It’s just that things are changing. The way we learn is changing, the resources we need are changing, and our jobs are ultimately changing. I don’t know if it’s for the best or for the worst, but only time will tell.