The Myth of Developer Obsolescence

https://news.ycombinator.com/rss Hits: 12
Summary

From NoCode to AI-AssistedEvery few years, a shiny new technology emerges that promises to make software developers obsolete. The headlines follow a predictable pattern: "The End of Coding," "Anyone Can Build Apps Now," or my personal favorite, "Why Your Five-Year-Old Will Be Programming Before Learning to Read."The executives get excited. The consultants circle like sharks. PowerPoint decks multiply. Budgets shift.And then reality sets in.What actually happens isn't replacement, it's transformation. Technologies that promised to eliminate the need for technical expertise end up creating entirely new specializations, often at higher salary points than before. The NoCode movement didn't eliminate developers; it created NoCode specialists and backend integrators. The cloud didn't eliminate system administrators; it transformed them into DevOps engineers at double the salary.Now we're witnessing the same pattern with AI-assisted development. The promise that "AI will write all your code" is evolving into the reality that we need engineers who can effectively orchestrate AI systems, which is essentially the same engineers, but now with new skills and higher salary expectations.But there's something deeper happening with this particular transformation. Unlike previous technological shifts that primarily changed how we implement solutions, AI-assisted development is highlighting a fundamental truth about software engineering that has always existed but is now impossible to ignore:The most valuable skill in software isn't writing code, it's architecting systems.And as we'll see, that's the one skill AI isn't close to replacing.The Endless Carousel of Replacement PromisesHow many times have we ridden this merry-go-round? Let's count the rotations:The NoCode/LowCode RevolutionRemember when drag-and-drop interfaces were going to let business users build their own applications? The promise was clear: "Why hire expensive developers when anyone can build an app?"What actually ha...

First seen: 2025-05-27 11:55

Last seen: 2025-05-27 22:57