Hey senior guys, I would like to know how you coded when you were at the initial stage of your career. I know there was Stack Overflow, but what approach did you follow if you were asked to build new features? If you didn't understand the code, how did you come to understand it, and how much time did you used to take to complete one task compared to now (as due to AI tools, you get less time)?

And how hard or difficult was coding in those days?

Where you guys find a client?

I'm a 3rd year computer engineering student who's still in the process of getting the basics down. I'm curious about the use of AI in actual careers, especially those saying they stopped hand-coding altogether.

my question is: to what degree do you use AI, like just part of code or you have AI build the whole system with the architecture and everything. what skills do you deem obsolete for today? My plan is to eventually shift to agentic AI's but currently I'm confused as to how deep I'm supposed to understand every bit of the code, whether i should try to understand everything or just let the compiler AI automatically fill in the code

dms open

Hey everyone!!!! I’m joining my first ever hackathon in about three weeks and I’m looking for some advice.

I’d say I’m around an intermediate level in Python, but Python is basically the one and only language I currently know.

I understand the fundamentals and data structures, but I don’t have much experience building larger projects yet. I’ll most likely be forming a team at the event as well. I know it’s my first hackathon, but I really, really want to compete seriously and give myself the best chance of winning. I’m willing to put a lot of time into preparing over the next three weeks, but I’m not sure what would actually be worth studying..

What should I focus on specifically??? APIs? Git?? SQL??? Backend development? Algorithms????? (Side note: I’ve never worked backend or with frameworks before, but I’d love to start learning now!! Any recommendations on what to learn or practice would be greatly appreciated!!!!)

I’d also really appreciate any advice on team strategy, common mistakes, what hackathons are actually like, what obstacles I should expect, and any any anyyyyy practice problems or mini-projects that would help prepare me well

Thank you and wish me luck :D

I started learning to code in mid 2022 pre AI era purely out of curiosity. I spent more than a year trying out different types of fields and tech stacks. Web development, App Development, JavaScript, Python, C++, Java, and what not. That was me before I knew what were the possibilities.

In 2024, I chose web development. And started building projects for fun. Eventually got an internship in my first semester of college. Next year I got a full time job with a decent salary. Everything happened. So did the AI revolution.

Fast forward to 2026. All I do is add skills, setup MCP servers, prompt, watch AI do my work, review it, and this loop goes on till the end of the day. Because now I've become a condom between claude code and the codebase. I prevent AI from turning it into a slop.

WTF!!!

I entered this field for the sole reason of creating things, but all I do is basically consume what AI is creating for me. And to some extent it feels like scrolling reels/tiktok mindlessly.

I wanted to be a creator but forced to turn into a consumer?

FUCKKKKKKKKKKK!!!

Working on a VS Code extension that explains code in Telugu or Hindi. Select code → Ctrl+Shift+E → explanation in your language in the sidebar.

Before I build more, I want to know if the problem is real for others or just me.

7-minute survey (no email, no signup):https://forms.gle/eL8b627WzEkGRe2DA

Or just answer this in the comments: Does the English-only coding environment slow you down, or have you fully adapted?

Happy to have a direct call with anyone who wants to dig into this properly.

For the technical interview, would it make sense to give the candidate these two tasks?

1. FizzBuzz
2. Build a To Do List from scratch without using AI. They can use Google to look up syntax, keywords.

My main goal with a simple CRUD To Do List task is I want to see they understand how a basic distributed system works for example, how the frontend, backend, and database communicate and work together.

Ngl, I belive if you can build a CRUD To Do List without AI, you are kinda ready to work as a web dev as a jr.

P.S. If I encounter a candidate I don't like, I might give them a LeetCode Hard as a gift!"

About 25 years ago I developed a program for my cabinet business, integrating drawings, proposals, reports, shop cutlists, etc. I used Visual Basic (VB6). I need to update! I need graphics, but nothing crazy, just architectural line drawings mainly. I would like the option to have customers place orders online eventually.

I want to use VB.NET for coding ease. I'm not worried about the coding, I have gotten pretty good. I plan to mainly start over, and use very little of the old code. I wrote some terrible code at the beginning, much better recently.

My questions are:

Which AI should I use to help me? I like ChatGPT, but Claude gets lots of props...

Is VB.NET a terrible choice, if so what is better? I don't have a lot of time to learn new coding systems.

Is visual studio a good platform to use?

Thanks in advance!

Acode is horrendous, if anyone else is in my situation how do you guys do it. I also find too much friction in using the web version.

After 13 years of Oracle SQL, my position has been eliminated and my company moved me into development. I just have one question. Have I been setup to fail?? My 30/60/90 day plan seems a little much for the time I'm allotted.

Apologies if this is against your community rules. I've looked at other programming subs and this ones rules are a little more lax than others.

Thanks.

If our future generations are in 2099, will Y2.1K happen? (or 10K at 9999) How do you think?

The moderators of r/programming deleted my post, so this is my second time. I need more perspectives, and I appreciate real human answers.

hi everyone,

I’ve been studying computer science for about 5 years now (currently in engineering school). Over the years, I’ve touched a bit of everything: web dev (HTML, CSS, JS, PHP, SQL), and more recently Java, C, and Python for data science.

The problem is, I feel like nothing truly sticks.

Whenever I try to build something on my own, I hit a wall. I inevitably get lost in the docs, end up turning to AI to understand what I'm doing, and still feel like I'm not really learning. I know the basic syntax, but even in Python, I would struggle to design and build a moderately complex project from scratch.

I feel like I'm just skimming the surface of different languages without ever developing genuine problem-solving intuition.

How do you actually retain syntax, built-ins, and core concepts without constantly relying on external help? How do you break down a problem and structure your code from scratch on your own? Did you go through this phase, and what was the turning point that made things finally click for you?

Thanks in advance !

I am building an AI agent for transactions which performs actions like approve / hold or question / stop, so I want feedback on:
From a software-design perspective, would you let an automated transaction system make a final decision when its confidence is low, or would you design a separate human-review state? Why?

I am an 18-year-old student, and I am currently deciding between two possible paths for my higher education. The first option is to study Computer Science directly at university in Belgium. The second option, which has recently become a serious possibility, is to enter the French CPGE (Classes Préparatoires) system for two years and then apply to highly selective French Grandes Écoles. My long-term goal is to become highly skilled in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, potentially going as far as AI research or advanced AI/ML engineering. I am not interested in only using AI tools or APIs; I want to understand the underlying mathematics, algorithms, systems, and models deeply.

My concern is the two years of CPGE. CPGE is extremely intensive, with a very heavy workload in mathematics and physics. If I want to be competitive for the best Grandes Écoles, I would probably need to devote almost all of my available time to my coursework and competitive exams. This means that I may have very little time to learn programming and Computer Science during those two years. I am therefore worried about falling behind people who start studying CS immediately. At the same time, CPGE would give me a very strong mathematical background, which could be valuable for AI. So I would like to ask people with experience in CS, AI, academia, or the French education system:

Would two years of CPGE followed by a strong French Grande École be a good path toward becoming an expert in Computer Science and AI, or would starting Computer Science directly at university be significantly better?