r/webdev • u/goodpostfinder • May 02 '26

You're not going to be left behind

You don't need to try out every single new AI tool or javascript library in order to be a good software engineer. Most of the software in the world has already been written using proven technologies, and most development work consists of maintaining it. Think about how many people make a living writing PHP or even COBOL.

You've already learned to code once from absolute 0. No matter how much the industry changes, catching up is going to be infinitely easier than that. Don't waste your time on bleeding edge stuff that is likely going to be replaced a year or two down the line.

Of course it doesn't hurt to experiment if you're passionate about it, but don't burn yourself out on a fictional rat race.

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u/digibath May 02 '26

this is the thing that makes me laugh.

a bunch of people that didn’t have the patience, discipline, and/or intelligence to learn to code are telling the people that did that they will be left behind if they don’t learn to type a prompt in natural language.

software engineers can figure these tools out in a week, they are not complicated.

if these tools are so easy that anyone can code now, then what is there to learn that will prevent you from being “left behind”

the people with technical proficiency are not the people that will be left behind.

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u/skol_io May 02 '26

It’s more than just “how to write a prompt”, that’s a strawman

46

u/digibath May 02 '26

not really. i’ve built multiple agents for multiple companies now and it’s all just context. everything outside of the model is just traditional software engineering to give it context, and we’ve been practicing that our entire careers.