My journey in computer’s started with programming, which was somewhat essential way back when if you wanted your computer to do something. Especially if money was tight and you wanted something. Software was expensive.
It’s been the start of a fascination with technology, engineering and science.
Making stuff work out of nothing is some sort of magic.
In this day and age there is so much software, free and lower cost in general. So a lot of people just use software without ever getting near a line of code. In this new AI era you van code without knowing a lot (or anything) about coding, engineering and other technical subjects the question is, is learning how to code (or engineering skills in general) still relevant.
Is there any use for learning how to code.
As with all new technology there is always a group of people which are warning for a demise of knowledge in the field of this breakthrough new technology. When higher level coding languages appeared on the scene a lot of people were concerned with a lack of technical knowledge on how computer’s function on a technical level. How this would lead to inefficiency in software and bulky programs which were less efficient. In some respects this was true. But this had more to do with More’s law than anything else. The abundance in power did lead to less focus on small and memory efficient programs.
As time went on these topics are back in full force. Same will be true for coding is my expectation. If you want to build solutions domain knowledge is important, and if a technical engineer has domain knowledge this is a very nice advantage.
Can you build solutions with AI with just a great idea nowadays? Yes, I think you can, however it will most likely be good enough for the first release or at least good enough as a prototype. After this, you will probably need engineers for future updates, new functionality and making sure the solution will scale properly and get new larger goals implemented.
And for this, coding is essential, a basic knowledge will get you only so far. Deep knowledge of coding, or any engineering profession is extremely important for future tech roles in this new Era.
How important is the coding (or any engineering) knowledge?
AI can do a lot, especially logic and straightforward things like coding and the all sort of task. Likely to get better in the future. So why learn how to code and write code yourself. The answer is simple. It’s important to deeply understand language to communicate effectively. And really convey what you want to achieve. The only way to do this is to really know it and all the constructs behind the language.
The most important factor is the fun of learning how to code, the joy when things work, you find that bug that’s been there for ages and just experiencing the flow state when writing. This can only be achieved when doing the actual coding, also it’s a very cool challenge which isn’t easy and takes time. The rewards are there. It also teaches you a framework for working trough problems, ideas and translating ideas into solutions.
Can AI do a lot of things very fast and pretty good, it cannot give you the sheer joy of building things and learning (hard things). It trains your brain and makes growth possible. Learning anything is very important and coding is as good a start as anything.
Simply go for it.