5 ms·

Being "Just a Developer" Isn't Enough Anymore

22 points by boothemoo 9mo ago

pjmlp 9mo ago
It never was for those doing consulting work, as customers always expected more than plain coding.
colesantiago 9mo ago
Everyone is now a developer (Just don't tell them about software maintenance)
- hahahahhaah 9mo ago
  AI bubble burst will be a great time to pick up work of this kind. LLM prices skyrocket, needs a real dev.
  - abnercoimbre 9mo ago
    Indeed. The new (and few) AI Plumbers will command the best rates.
awesome_dude 9mo ago
AWS meant that (a lot of) "developers" were needing "Ops" skills AI hasn't "forced" domain knowledge to be required at all, it's been there as a requirement for a long time (I had several medical projects turn myself and many other good developers away because we didn't have domain knowledge, which was fair because we needed to have some idea of the subtext in the field)
the_af 9mo ago
This was true before. The famous essay "Don't Call Yourself A Programmer" dates from 2011! I thought it was required reading here on HN. https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-programmer/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-pr...
SimianSci 9mo ago
Software Development might be dead, but Software Engineering is alive and well. Anyone seriously interfacing with AI code generation can tell you that understanding how software is composed and architected is, and will continue to be, a requirement to building anything worthwhile. These systems are impressive but we are a far ways away from "Magical Genie Wishes" as a means of creating software.
- recursivedoubts 9mo ago
  And where do people think "Software Engineers" come from? Do they spring fully formed from Zeus' forehead?
  - pjmlp 9mo ago
    From universities, having taken the degree, and in some countries the engineering oath as well. Where graduates learn during a course of three to five years, depending on the country, that Software Engineering isn't only coding.
- 9dev 9mo ago
  How can you be so sure of that? We moved from completing the next word in a sentence to hey Claude, build me a SaaS awfully quickly. Are you willing to bet your career on a pace slowdown?
  - mmarian 9mo ago
    If that were the case, why doesn't Anthropic just spin up their own HR software? https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/anthropic/jobs/5023394008 https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/anthropic/jobs/5023394008
    - 9dev 9mo ago
      Because it's not their company mission to provide an HR tool. Getting started fast doesn't equate to being done somehow; every piece of software still is a liability that requires ongoing maintenance and continued development. I don't believe everyone will just suddenly start to replace SaaS tools with agent-built versions of them, because economically, that doesn't make sense: Even when we gloss over all human work still required in collaboration with agents, the tokens alone required to build a sufficiently complex system are more expensive over the long term than buying SaaS seats. So there's that.
bloqs 9mo ago
Just talking about AI isnt enough to ship your bang average products anymore
hahahahhaah 9mo ago
My experience is this has always been the case. Although I imagine if there were any just a dev jobs they are at risk!
devmor 9mo ago
Being "Just a Developer" was never a thing for anyone above Junior level, AI code generation hasn't changed anything about that. In fact, AI code generation hasn't changed much at all for anyone with a significant amount of experience (outside of business and management expectations) - its just another tool of varying usefulness.
deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]
deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]
Night_Thastus 9mo ago
I agree with some parts, at least. After my recent layoff, I realized I had become too narrow. I knew one language and one subject matter well, and couldn't quickly switch to something else. I was lucky and found an exact fit within a week - but there's no guarantee that will happen again. Definitely doesn't hurt to know a few languages, a few subjects well. Even if you're not an expert, you can fake it for a bit while you get the details down.
zkmon 9mo ago
No need to go by some generic rules. Just respond to what's going on around you. Not all companies move the same way in adopting AI. Some do it for PR sake. Highly regulated domains move at snail's space. So wait until you see the change and respond in way that aligns with the change. No hard rules.
pjio 9mo ago
I've done "being not only a developer" for some time. It's okay, even fulfilling but sometimes exhausting. Would have liked to take a break at some cushy, technical only position. Damn, should have done this while still possible...
OutOfHere 9mo ago
Just move on to something else already, e.g. designing physical products, getting them manufactured, and selling them. Use AI all along the way instead of fighting it. The longer one stays a developer, the worse the salaries will get. It won't be too long before it becomes a minimum wage job.
teaearlgraycold 9mo ago
I've always been super interested in the business, the product, the design, etc. Just programming was never enough for me. It's more fun to have at least some understanding of the entire system all the way from marketing to database optimization.

22 points by boothemoo 9mo ago

pjmlp 9mo ago

It never was for those doing consulting work, as customers always expected more than plain coding.

colesantiago 9mo ago

Everyone is now a developer (Just don't tell them about software maintenance)

hahahahhaah 9mo ago
AI bubble burst will be a great time to pick up work of this kind. LLM prices skyrocket, needs a real dev.
- abnercoimbre 9mo ago
  Indeed. The new (and few) AI Plumbers will command the best rates.

awesome_dude 9mo ago

AWS meant that (a lot of) "developers" were needing "Ops" skills AI hasn't "forced" domain knowledge to be required at all, it's been there as a requirement for a long time (I had several medical projects turn myself and many other good developers away because we didn't have domain knowledge, which was fair because we needed to have some idea of the subtext in the field)

the_af 9mo ago

This was true before. The famous essay "Don't Call Yourself A Programmer" dates from 2011! I thought it was required reading here on HN. https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-programmer/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-pr...

SimianSci 9mo ago

Software Development might be dead, but Software Engineering is alive and well. Anyone seriously interfacing with AI code generation can tell you that understanding how software is composed and architected is, and will continue to be, a requirement to building anything worthwhile. These systems are impressive but we are a far ways away from "Magical Genie Wishes" as a means of creating software.

recursivedoubts 9mo ago
And where do people think "Software Engineers" come from? Do they spring fully formed from Zeus' forehead?
- pjmlp 9mo ago
  From universities, having taken the degree, and in some countries the engineering oath as well. Where graduates learn during a course of three to five years, depending on the country, that Software Engineering isn't only coding.
9dev 9mo ago
How can you be so sure of that? We moved from completing the next word in a sentence to hey Claude, build me a SaaS awfully quickly. Are you willing to bet your career on a pace slowdown?
- mmarian 9mo ago
  If that were the case, why doesn't Anthropic just spin up their own HR software? https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/anthropic/jobs/5023394008 https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/anthropic/jobs/5023394008
  - 9dev 9mo ago
    Because it's not their company mission to provide an HR tool. Getting started fast doesn't equate to being done somehow; every piece of software still is a liability that requires ongoing maintenance and continued development. I don't believe everyone will just suddenly start to replace SaaS tools with agent-built versions of them, because economically, that doesn't make sense: Even when we gloss over all human work still required in collaboration with agents, the tokens alone required to build a sufficiently complex system are more expensive over the long term than buying SaaS seats. So there's that.

bloqs 9mo ago

Just talking about AI isnt enough to ship your bang average products anymore

hahahahhaah 9mo ago

My experience is this has always been the case. Although I imagine if there were any just a dev jobs they are at risk!

devmor 9mo ago

Being "Just a Developer" was never a thing for anyone above Junior level, AI code generation hasn't changed anything about that. In fact, AI code generation hasn't changed much at all for anyone with a significant amount of experience (outside of business and management expectations) - its just another tool of varying usefulness.

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

Night_Thastus 9mo ago

I agree with some parts, at least. After my recent layoff, I realized I had become too narrow. I knew one language and one subject matter well, and couldn't quickly switch to something else. I was lucky and found an exact fit within a week - but there's no guarantee that will happen again. Definitely doesn't hurt to know a few languages, a few subjects well. Even if you're not an expert, you can fake it for a bit while you get the details down.

zkmon 9mo ago

No need to go by some generic rules. Just respond to what's going on around you. Not all companies move the same way in adopting AI. Some do it for PR sake. Highly regulated domains move at snail's space. So wait until you see the change and respond in way that aligns with the change. No hard rules.

pjio 9mo ago

I've done "being not only a developer" for some time. It's okay, even fulfilling but sometimes exhausting. Would have liked to take a break at some cushy, technical only position. Damn, should have done this while still possible...

OutOfHere 9mo ago

Just move on to something else already, e.g. designing physical products, getting them manufactured, and selling them. Use AI all along the way instead of fighting it. The longer one stays a developer, the worse the salaries will get. It won't be too long before it becomes a minimum wage job.

teaearlgraycold 9mo ago

I've always been super interested in the business, the product, the design, etc. Just programming was never enough for me. It's more fun to have at least some understanding of the entire system all the way from marketing to database optimization.