You're a better developer than you think, you just need to realize...

The world of programmers is an infinitely large maze. It has its clear rules that, once understood, will lead you to your goal. At the beginning, you feel lost, seeing dozens of different paths and not knowing which one to start with. Those who started decades ago had only a book in their backpack, which vaguely described how to navigate this space. The only option was the trial-and-error method, and it took a long time to reach the goal. Those who started later had a book and a walkie-talkie in their backpack. This allowed them to connect with anyone in the world and seek advice. In the maze, they learned to navigate faster. If you are starting today, you have a book, a walkie-talkie, and a Jetpack. This allows you to soar over high walls and fly straight to the goal. I am convinced that if you belong to the first or second group, you will agree with me. On the contrary, the last group will categorically disagree. You may be surprised, but you are all right. We actually forgot to account for one fundamental variable at the beginning... The size of the maze. While the first group had only one book at their disposal, they had to learn to navigate in a much smaller space. Today's programming world is gigantic and is growing faster and faster. Frontend, backend, DevOps, AI, game development, mobile apps, security... The proof is that if you compare ten different companies focused, for example, only on web development, each will be using a different tech stack. The jetpack may seem like an incredible aid, but in today's infinitely large maze, even with it, finding a goal can be quite a laborious task. Without a doubt, you who started with a book in hand as your only source of information and are actively programming to this day have earned the title of "Wizard". But if I ask if you can keep up with current technologies, your answer would inevitably be NO. At least, if you are honest. And no... it has nothing to do with age, motivation, or family... It's because while you learn one new thing, someone in the meantime releases 10 new updates and creates 2 new technologies. My question is, if you have been programming for 20, 30, or 40 years and are struggling to keep up, how is a person who has been learning to code for a week supposed to feel? The key is not perfect code, but the result. And I mean that literally. If your goal is to create a calculator, do everything you can so that your mom calculates her pocket money on your super calculator. And you know what? It doesn't matter at all that AI generated the whole thing for you and you were just the mechanical robot that did copy-paste. (If you are a wizard, you probably just got a nosebleed. Don't worry, wipe it and continue reading; the point will come.) Maybe this way you will create another 10 projects, maybe 15, but sooner or later you will hit the limits of AI and will have to turn on your brain. And at that moment, you will start to become a developer, and AI will become your assistant. You will start to ask more questions, learn from mistakes, and gain experience. And that strange source code will suddenly start to make sense. While in the past it took a week to find a bug in the code, AI can find and fix it in a minute, allowing you to use the remaining time to learn Docker, Git, GitHub,... Because without that, no company will want to talk to you. That is today's reality. And that perfect code? There is only one, completed and functional. And believe me. I have drowned more than once in my own "perfect code." I made sure everything was secure, followed best practices, reusability, performance, readability. And the result? Instead of taking a month, the project took 4 months. And at the end of the day, it did exactly the same thing as other similar projects. Maybe a little faster and safer. But the difference was only seen by me. After six months, I opened this project and was horrified at how I could create such terrible code.

May 7, 2025 - 17:48

You're a better developer than you think, you just need to realize...

The world of programmers is an infinitely large maze. It has its clear rules that, once understood, will lead you to your goal. At the beginning, you feel lost, seeing dozens of different paths and not knowing which one to start with.

Those who started decades ago had only a book in their backpack, which vaguely described how to navigate this space. The only option was the trial-and-error method, and it took a long time to reach the goal.

Those who started later had a book and a walkie-talkie in their backpack. This allowed them to connect with anyone in the world and seek advice. In the maze, they learned to navigate faster.

If you are starting today, you have a book, a walkie-talkie, and a Jetpack. This allows you to soar over high walls and fly straight to the goal.

I am convinced that if you belong to the first or second group, you will agree with me. On the contrary, the last group will categorically disagree.

You may be surprised, but you are all right.

We actually forgot to account for one fundamental variable at the beginning... The size of the maze.

While the first group had only one book at their disposal, they had to learn to navigate in a much smaller space. Today's programming world is gigantic and is growing faster and faster. Frontend, backend, DevOps, AI, game development, mobile apps, security...

The proof is that if you compare ten different companies focused, for example, only on web development, each will be using a different tech stack.

The jetpack may seem like an incredible aid, but in today's infinitely large maze, even with it, finding a goal can be quite a laborious task.

Without a doubt, you who started with a book in hand as your only source of information and are actively programming to this day have earned the title of "Wizard".

But if I ask if you can keep up with current technologies, your answer would inevitably be NO. At least, if you are honest. And no... it has nothing to do with age, motivation, or family... It's because while you learn one new thing, someone in the meantime releases 10 new updates and creates 2 new technologies.

My question is, if you have been programming for 20, 30, or 40 years and are struggling to keep up, how is a person who has been learning to code for a week supposed to feel?

The key is not perfect code, but the result.

And I mean that literally. If your goal is to create a calculator, do everything you can so that your mom calculates her pocket money on your super calculator.

And you know what?

It doesn't matter at all that AI generated the whole thing for you and you were just the mechanical robot that did copy-paste. (If you are a wizard, you probably just got a nosebleed. Don't worry, wipe it and continue reading; the point will come.)

Maybe this way you will create another 10 projects, maybe 15, but sooner or later you will hit the limits of AI and will have to turn on your brain. And at that moment, you will start to become a developer, and AI will become your assistant. You will start to ask more questions, learn from mistakes, and gain experience. And that strange source code will suddenly start to make sense.

While in the past it took a week to find a bug in the code, AI can find and fix it in a minute, allowing you to use the remaining time to learn Docker, Git, GitHub,... Because without that, no company will want to talk to you. That is today's reality.

And that perfect code?

There is only one, completed and functional. And believe me. I have drowned more than once in my own "perfect code." I made sure everything was secure, followed best practices, reusability, performance, readability.

And the result?

Instead of taking a month, the project took 4 months. And at the end of the day, it did exactly the same thing as other similar projects. Maybe a little faster and safer. But the difference was only seen by me. After six months, I opened this project and was horrified at how I could create such terrible code.