So Much for Learn to Code | Hacker News Reader

So Much for Learn to Code

theatlantic.com

11 pointsdarod9 comments

Excel didn't kill accountant jobs and they still have to learn how to add numbers. AI is a productivity multiplier in the same way. It doesn't mean you can get by without learning how to code.

agreed. AI will be prod multiplier for software development

The more people who think AI can produce quality code, the more job opportunities there will be in fixing that code.

Written by people who think the core contribution of computer science grads is 'coding'.

Isn't coding a synonym for software development?

There seems to be this idea that calling software development "coding" or "programming" is some kind of insult.

Though perhaps it's understandable if being called a "developer" (or better yet, "engineer") results in higher pay and social status for the same work.

(Then there are software "architects" who don't read or write code at all, preferring non-code systems like powerpoint. /s)

on the other hand a few years from now there will no software development without AI help

Coding is not a synonym for software development. Software development requires writing / comprehending specifications, analyzing the task at hand thoroughly, designing a solution that is computationally feasible and that interfaces properly with any current systems, implementing that solution using the available / best programming languages, libraries, and platforms, performing unit tests while working on the implementation, and writing documentation for the application or feature (not to mention, writing comments all along while writing the implementation). "Coding" is merely implementing a well-conceived design using one or more programming languages, libraries, and/or platforms; "coding" is the easy part.

Software development also requires:

- Not leaking your company's IP out on the internet

- Not plagiarizing code to produce your solution. Most people have no idea how bad it is about this, at some point ChatGPT plagiarized code is going to legal issues.

ChatGPT does both those things right now. The author has no idea those are even a thing.

It is a head scratcher a publication like The Atlantic lets a journalist who likely has zero understanding of software development write an article like this, but then the editors must be just as clueless.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230926121630/https://www.theat...

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