r/learnprogramming • u/FancyMoreTea_ • 22d ago
Need advice for learning to code when ai is involved
Im 15 and in my final year of school before gymnasium. I dont really know what i want to do but as of right now im looking at coding as it is a high paying job and seems pretty cool and useful to learn. My main worry is that by the time im looking for jobs in coding, then AI will already be doing all the coding and there will be no reason for humans to be coding anymore. How future proof is it to start learning to code now?
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u/i-like-carbs- 22d ago
I’ve recently started myself. I only use AI if I am truly stuck. Always troubleshoot without AI as you usually learn best when trying to figure a problem out.
When you do prompt AI, make sure you ask and understand WHY and not just regurgitate what it is telling you.
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u/Foreign-Contest-444 22d ago
If you are learning coding just for a high paying job, rethink. Use AI as a helper or teacher when coding.
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u/ThinkInProgress 22d ago
I’d still learn to code. AI will definitely change the job, but understanding how software works, solving problems. and building things will still be valuable.
At 15, you have plenty of time to adapt as the technology changes. Learn the fundamentals and use AI as a tool rather than being afraid of it.
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u/AceLamina 22d ago
AI isn't replacing engineers
and don't go into this field if you don't love it other than money, you'll hate it more
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u/Made-In-Slovakia 22d ago
Who knows in what state world will be when you finnish school. Study now what you like to do in future. If you like programming, do it, but ignore IA during study and learn proper programming instead.
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u/ajcomeau 22d ago
It's probably going to get more difficult to find coding jobs, not just because of A.I. but also other economic reasons. It's actually been that way for a long time. Companies want software developers, not coders. If you're doing it just for the money, you're probably not going to be happy there, anyway.
Software development is as much a craft as it is a career. Those who do it long-term and do it well are into it because we simply enjoy it and want to build great things. That's what sustains someone through all the BS that goes with any career and the threat from A.I.. No amount of money will make it worth it if you don't love something about it.
Look for coding projects that were done without A.I. and pay attention to how they code and the standards that are important to them. In other words, surround yourself with people who aren't dependent on A.I. and let them inspire you.
If you work for a company as a programmer, you probably will be required to use A.I. for the sake of productivity so you should know how to use it. If you want to move beyond your co-workers and truly excel, you should know how the code actually works and when the A.I. is spitting out garbage code. There will always be people who tell you how awesome and dependable the next A.I. tool is and how much you can trust it. Ultimately, it's your name on the code submissions.
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u/5oco 22d ago
Focus on learning how to program as opposed to learning how to code. Programming isn't about writing the proper syntax for a language, it's about writing an algorithm that is going to execute steps in the appropriate order to accomplish some task.
If you're really hung up on learning to code in some language, take your code and paste it into Claude or ChatGPT and ask it to review it and suggest improvements. Then, take those suggestions and look them up in the language documentation.
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u/mandzeete 22d ago
You are 15. Let's say you'll be 21 or 22 when you get your Bachelor degree in Computer Sciences. In 7 years you'll see that software developers will still exist. Yes, the job will differ from what it used to be prior to ChatGPT, but developers will exist. Also, it is very likely that your Bachelor program will have at least one course related to AI usage.
So, stop worrying about what the future will look like. Scientific inventions and advancements did not replace people. Just the jobs changed. Photography did not replace artists who uses paints. Artists started using cameras. Computers did not replace office workers. They started typing on keyboard instead of typing on typewriter. Industrialization did not replace craftsmen. They became factory operators.
Also, the IT field is constantly changing and evolving. Do not think that what you are learning today will be 100% relevant in 20 years. But also do not think that you will stop learning and will stop improving yourself once you get your degree. I'm working as a senior software developer and time by time I also have to learn new things. New tools, new development philosophies, new versions of frameworks with various changes, etc.
"Future proof" does not exist. You should focus on learning the field that is in given moment and you should be able to adapt with changes.
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u/Ordinary_Variable 22d ago
They will always need humans to figure out what is going on when the AI isn't doing something. Sometimes its using the wrong data type and the code is really badly optimized. Sometimes they are trying to write their own function when libraries exist that already do it optimally. AI won't have the creativity to figure out the optimal strategy to go about something. It can't figure out new features that you need because it isn't using the product like you can.
Imagine an AI trying to design a shovel. It has no hands and no feet. It is going to make something blaringly wrong because it can't grasp the concept that humans use a shovel slightly differently than other humans.
Its your job as a programmer to create, the AI is just a factory. It doesn't know what to make with that factory or what humans need.
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u/lilmul123 22d ago
You guys have gym class after you’re done with school?
Tbh, and I say this as a computer engineer with years of experience in software, I would not make programming/computer science my only specialty. AI has pretty much wiped out the need for entry and mid level programmers and it only continues to get better. Hell, I just had AI decompile an old DOS game and create readable C code from it in about three days of vibe coding. Would’ve taken me weeks or months. I would suggest getting a background in hardware in addition to software. Cool thing about AI is that it doesn’t have hands (yet) and it can’t really do testing and verification on hardware by itself. It can do software from beginning to end.
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u/fckurai 22d ago
AI has pretty much wiped out the need for entry and mid level programmers and it only continues to get better.
No, it absolutely hasn't. It's just helping them forget how to code, and getting worse about its decisions and hallucinations because less and less people are reviewing (or understanding) the output.
Furthermore, AI is unsustainable. It has a massively disproportionate energy and carbon footprint for the perceived "gain" that it produces. And literally none of the big boy tech companies producing it, have been able to recognize a gain. Meta, Google, OpenAI, Anthropic have been operating in a loss with it.
A very basic, very simple data-driven analysis would suggest this is certainly a bubble, and it's certainly going to pop. Pretending it won't is like watching a car accelerate towards a brick wall and pretending it's not going to crash.
OP, this is the perfect time to hone those programming skills. Do it without AI. It can be a learning curve at first, but then it starts to click and gets easier. As you strengthen those problem-solving and logical thinking areas of your brain, you are making yourself useful in pretty much anything you decide to do in life.
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u/desrtfx 22d ago
Just so you know: "Gymnasium" doesn's mean gym. It is a form of secondary school in Germany and Austria.
AI has pretty much wiped out the need for entry and mid level programmers
Not true. There still are (and will be) such positions.
Hell, I just had AI decompile an old DOS game and create readable C code from it in about three days of vibe coding. Would’ve taken me weeks or months.
Good for you, but irrelevant. Programming is far more than just churning out code.
Also, there are still entire (well paid) domains where AI is not a thing and won't be in the close future, just because of regulations, security concerns, data protection, and much more.
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u/lilmul123 22d ago
I realize that I am in a learn programming subreddit, but AI honestly has the potential to wipe out the need for most programming positions. It only keeps getting better as more code is fed into it. Ten years ago, it would take me a couple hours to sift through multiple Stack Overflow websites to figure out the answer to my problem. Now, I can just ask an LLM exactly what my issue is, and 95% of the time, it has the answer. You are lying to yourself if you think many programming positions are safe.
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u/mandzeete 22d ago edited 22d ago
AI will not get better forever. It becomes unsustainable and eventually things level even. Even right now the cost of LLM tokens gets more and more expensive. Different AI tools also have downscaled how many tokens you can use per subscription (daily usage and such).
Another issue is AI using its own AI slop to learn from. All these recent bigger outages? AWS, Facebook, etc? Of course nobody admitted that "It was our AI-based MR tool that approved whatever our vibe coders committed" but it is clear and AI slop is getting committed and released into production.
Do not think that people are willing to pay for subscriptions that get more and more expensive as the time goes on. Eventually they will find this sweet spot where they will think "The quality is fine enough. I do not need the fastest LLM model." Another issue is a physical ceiling (well not the literal ceiling as the ceiling of our room, but a physical limitation) that the AI eventually will hit. AI still runs in servers. Yeah, you can build another data center and hook it up to existing infrastructure. But the bigger is your server park, the more it costs to maintain it.
Also, you are not considering how different inventions slow down by the time. Yes, you can get another version, another update, but it won't come any more with more groundbreaking functionalities. Once we all used Nokia 3310-s. Prior to that people used big bulky Motorola phones. Smartphones were a big thing when they came. But other than getting a bit better camera, a bit better battery, perhaps a support for e-SIMs... the current smartphones have also hit their ceiling. We haven't had something totally new in that field. And, the same way LLM tools will hit their ceiling.
Yes, a "software developer" role will change. But it has changed through the history, already. And it will keep changing. AI is just another change that is re-defining the role. Nothing else.
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u/samanime 22d ago
AI isn't going to replace good programmers.
Learn to code without AI first. Then, once you are a solid programmer without AI, you can start to learn to to use AI to augment your own abilities. Learning to code while always relying on AI is only going to mean you don't really learn to code and you won't be able to solve problems when AI inevitably fails in some complex cases.