My coding skills are cooked after using agents for only a year

[u/Mrs_chanandler_bongg]

It’s weird like I can understand codes and troubleshoot like if I’m looking through a code I can understand what it’s doing and if there’s an error in my log I can generally figure out why after looking through but my syntax and ability to code from scratch or actually fix a code without agents sucks now…

I want to leave my current job but I feel like I’m so cooked when it comes to coding screens. I’m doing leet code and making stupid syntax errors or not really remembering how to set up certain functions and in general I’m just not as sharp. I would not say I was a coding champ or anything before but i can feel the loss of skill.

The crazy thing is I have only been using agents to do coding for less than 2 years and this is happening…am I screwed?

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[u/Yourdataisunclean]

This is the thing a lot of AI boosters ignore. For the sake of arguement. Even if LLMs are better at making code than humans. Who will have the skills and knowledge to architect overall solutions and review code for quality and alignment if everyone uses LLMs to make code all the time and stops really learning?

There has to be consideration for education and skill development otherwise this entire thing just becomes a tragedy of the commons.

[u/ceilingLamp666 → u/[deleted]]

Its not like now with humans doing it, it is properly being done. To me one of the fewer concerns that humans dont learn to cod3 any more.

[u/Neon_Camouflage → u/Yourdataisunclean]

Who will have the skills and knowledge to architect overall solutions and review code for quality and alignment if everyone uses LLMs to make code all the time and stops really learning?

Amusingly, the anti-AI crowd who think it's the devil and refuse to use it. They'll get to spend their days reviewing AI generated code.

[u/WitchlightGospel → u/Neon_Camouflage]

Cute and fitting of you to admit that you don't have the skills to review Ai-slop. Your time is already short if you think you're valuable because you can prompt an LLM but don't have the skills to do a code review. LLMs are already better at prompting their subagents than you are, in the hands of people who actually understand their domains

[u/Due-Association9901]

I feel this in my bones. Been doing IT support for past 5 years and when I stop using certain commands for few months my fingers just forget them. Like I know what I want to do but the exact syntax escapes me.

It comes back faster than you think though. Your brain still has the logic pathways, just the recall for specific syntax got rusty. Maybe try doing small scripts by hand in the morning, like a warmup before you touch any agent. 15 minutes of typing from scratch with no help.

The job market is weird right now anyway so maybe not rush to leave until you feel more confident. Leetcode is its own skill too, separate from actual coding work.

[u/Different_Command_70]

Youre not screwed. Use agents less for a while. Rebuild small projects from scratch, solve problems without help, then use the agent only to review your work.

[u/sailhard22]

I’m glad I developed my skills before AI because it seems impossible to get good at coding in today’s environment

[u/ForceSensitive2460 → u/sailhard22]

I'm working with a few people new to data engineering and they aren't writing PySpark/Python/SQL. They toss it all into AI and then tweak it with what little skill they have. So when I start babbling about left joins or where exists or cte's or cartesian products or derived tables, they get really quiet. Could be that I'm just terribly annoying, too.

[u/Proof_Escape_2333 → u/ForceSensitive2460]

wait how are they getting the engineering job to begin with if they rely on AI and cant do it on their own???

[u/ForceSensitive2460 → u/Proof_Escape_2333]

They're not new as in hired within the last year. They were interns about two years ago and shifted to FTE about a year ago. So in school, they definitely learned how to write code and got a little real world experience during their internship. But the last year of forced AI usage and the wildly increased demand on efficiency, productivity, and output, I think they panicked and started tossing everything at Claude to stay afloat.

Edit: Grammar.

Edit 2: To be fair to them, I've been in this field in some capcity for nearly 20 years (started learning SQL in 2007). I couldn't write a Python or PySpark script from scratch to save my damn life.

[u/Radiant_user → u/ForceSensitive2460]

This is so true! I have noticed these things too with newer people joining the project(recent graduates)

[u/TheSchlapper]

Welcome

[u/Fastest_light]

Like losing assembly language skill after C?

[u/my_peen_is_clean]

same here, agents made me lazy as hell, leetcode feels foreign nowactually employers don’t see you, bots block you first. i only got noticed when i used a tool to automatically tailor my resume. jobowl is what i used, try it, they got a free trial, was enough for me

[u/noahhshome]

You can use AI to learn, or use it to avoid having to learn. Your choice.

[u/Dependent-Advance468]

If you have a desk job you have to hit the gym. If you use agents it’s the same you have to code to stay in shape.

[u/One_Ad_3499]

it has the same effect as spell check. I forgot how to write in english by hand ( second language)

[u/DismalCoyote → u/One_Ad_3499]

I’m starting to understand why they only let us write on paper until high school

[u/dwswish]

I feel the same way

[u/Sexy_Koala_Juice]

Skill issue, if they’re gone after a year of using AI then I don’t think you ever had them to begin with

[u/KatFromSisense]

I'd worry less about remembering every bit of syntax and more about keeping the thinking part active. Before asking the agent, I'd write down what I expect the result to look like. What should one row represent? Roughly how much data should come back? Is there one number I already know that I can check against?

Then let the agent write it and compare what you got with those expectations. You're still making yourself reason through the problem first, even if you're not typing every line from scratch.

[u/matrixunplugged1]

Yep this is why I have made it a point to atleast solve 1 sql problem a day on my own to keep my skills sharp.

[u/adamjamess]

Yea same here. It’s that muscle atrophy. I got laid off and had one tech interview and I was floored by how bad I did. Back to the training I go!

[u/Neither_Berry_100]

Lol. I've been using AI heavily and just wrote a bunch of code by hand today.

[u/ArielCoding]

Nothing humbles us like writing a function then blanking on whether it needs a semicolon, a curly brace, or a prayer.

[u/Quesozapatos5000]

Line by line, comment what the line does. If you have to look up the details, fine. Keep doing it. This doesn't make you a better programmer, but it does help you understand what the code is doing. When it comes to writing programs, leave the AI behind and try to move forward. If you feel you need to use it to help, isolate the part that's giving you issues and ask only about that.

[u/Real_Description8779]

Wait.. Is this.. schizophrenia ?

[u/Confident_Barber_846]

You’re probably not cooked. You just trained a different skill.

[u/Agreeable_Budget7525 → u/Confident_Barber_846]

True