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Can't start with programming except being into computer science (suppo.fi)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/programming@programming.dev
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Ive been interested in computers for 4 years or so. And I love computer science concepts and free software. I know design difference between X11 and Wayland protocols, garbage collectors and other random facts i remembered.

But i have never done any serious programming. Only some little attempts at python, godot, c++, kotlin and so on. Idk why but when i have to do the actual programming i just dont know how, documentation feels unclear and those youtube programming courses also do not ensentivize it.

If someone here had similar problem, how did you solve it?

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[–] 0 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I still draw on my experience extensively, every day, when designing systems and reviewing code.

How long do you think you'll be needed to do that?

The models are coming for your job. They'll get good enough to replace you, and sooner than you think. If you think you're safe, you're delusional.

And in the long run, nobody will need your finely-honed skills or mine. Young professionals who start a career in software engineering today are basically signing up for long-term unemployement or burger-flipping.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    How long do you think you'll be needed to do that?

    I have yet to see much evidence that indicates that I won’t be needed indefinitely.

    The models are coming for your job.

    Gonna need some citations on this, chief. I don’t necessarily disagree, but proper architecture and high level analysis and design, especially of large existing systems, is something that LLMs have always been quite bad at, and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon. But I know the state of the art is hard to follow, so if you have any new developments to share I’d love to look at them.

    They'll get good enough to replace you, and sooner than you think. If you think you're safe, you're delusional.

    I have never thought I was “safe” in this industry, going back 30 years. But I think there’s 1) a lot of questionable fear mongering going around, and 2) a very clear possibility of a talent shortage if we keep going on this trajectory.

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  • [–] -4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 child)

    I have yet to see much evidence that indicates that I won’t be needed indefinitely.

    I've seen models going from pissing shitty 10-liners that didn't compile to reworking entire projects halfway convincingly in only a few short years. I see no reason why they won't get good enough to do that well enough to render your senior software architect ass obsolete in a few more.

    "Today’s AI is the worst you’ll ever use" is correct. You might get some respite for a few more years when the AI bubble bursts and we go back to doing shit ourselves for a while. But the technology isn't going away. And bad luck for us, it's almost perfectly suited to replace software engineers, of all jobs.

    If you haven't seen this, you've been living under a massive rock. It's clear as day.

    lot of questionable fear mongering going around

    Well, I will say this: all I'm saying is that OUR jobs as WE know them are gone. They either don't exist anymore, or they're on the verge of disappearing. What I'm emphatically NOT saying is that it's wrong: it's progress I guess. We're just the latest round of professionals whose profession has been rendered obsolete by technology.

    I do worry that so many professions are in the crosshairs that it'll basically break society though, because the changes are so radical and so quick.

    a very clear possibility of a talent shortage if we keep going on this trajectory.

    It's not a possibility, it's a certainty. And it won't matter: again, I'm 100% convinced the machines will do a better job than you or me very soon.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago*

    Ok. I’m not convinced of most of what you say, certainly not to the level of certainty that you have. I’d still love to see actual evidence of what you’re saying. Extrapolating 3 years of progress, especially when that progress is rapid, out to infinity is a classic mistake. Do you really think that, for example, the progress that models have made in 2026 is anywhere near the level that they made from, say, Jan 2024 to Nov 2024?

    I do agree that things have changed and that maybe it is progress.

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