What do you genuinely think about programming? Is it dead or not? Do people still need to learn the art of programming or not?
This is a question I find interesting to think through, so let me share my perspective.
Programming is not dead, but routine coding is being automated away
Here’s how I see it:
What IS dying or at least shrinking:
- Writing boilerplate code from scratch
- Memorising syntax line by line
- Simple CRUD apps and basic scripting
- Entry-level “code monkey” work that doesn’t require deep thinking
What is NOT dying and is arguably more valuable than ever:
- Problem-solving thinking: the ability to deeply understand a problem and figure out the best way to solve it, not just jump into coding
- Problem decomposition: turning a messy real-world problem into something a machine can solve
- Systems thinking and system design: understanding how different parts of a software system or architecture interact, and designing them to work together efficiently
- Debugging intuition: Being able to figure out why something broke, not just that it broke
- Security and reliability reasoning: thinking about edge cases, vulnerabilities, and failure scenarios, because AI-generated code can be fragile or insecure
- Domain-specific engineering: understanding areas like distributed systems, machine learning infrastructure, operating systems, or compilers, where real complexity lives
My opinion
Saying “programming is dead” is confusing the tool with the discipline.
AI is to programming what calculators were to mathematics: it removes the tedious arithmetic, but you still need to understand math to use a calculator meaningfully.
What’s actually happening is a raising of the floor and the ceiling simultaneously:
- The floor rises: non-programmers can build simple things with AI
- The ceiling rises: skilled programmers can build things that were previously impossible for a single person or small team
The dangerous middle is people who learn just enough syntax to write code without understanding what it’s doing. AI makes that easier, which means it also makes it easier to build things that are broken, insecure, or unmaintainable in subtle ways.
Should people still learn programming?
Yes, but the goal has shifted.
You should learn programming to develop:
- Computational thinking: how to reason about logic, state, and systems
- The ability to evaluate AI output: you can’t catch AI’s mistakes if you can’t read code
- Deep problem-solving skill: which only comes from struggling with real problems yourself
- Leverage: a programmer using AI is 5-10x more productive than one who isn’t
The people who will win in the next decade aren’t those who avoid programming because “AI does it”. They’re the ones who understand programming deeply and use AI as a force multiplier.
Programming as a rote skill is being commoditised. Programming as a thinking discipline is becoming more important than ever.
Learn it — but learn it at the level of understanding, not just syntax.
