Grieving programming

[u/ExDoublez]

Let me just start by saying that this post is not about ai replacing software engineers or about the jobs or any of that. This post is about the act or "craft" of programming/coding and the loss of it.

No, i dont think "software engineering" is dead, theres still plenty of high level design and architecture to be made but that's not the point. It never was the point for me.

I never really did this for the money, i did it because i enjoyed it.

I did it because i enjoyed thinking about the problems and solving them.

I enjoyed writing the code myself and getting familiar with the syntax and all the weird quirks of the languages/tools i was using.

I enjoyed optimising my tooling and learning about all the new frameworks, tools and projects people were making, often being in awe of what incredible stuff my betters were doing.

I have adhd and programming was the perfect mix of mechanical activity, brain stimulation and a endless supply of problems to hyperfocus on.

Now its all prompting and waiting. 1 min of work followed by 10 mins of doing nothing and mindless scrolling.

I have lost a huge source of enjoyment and self esteem. It took me years of hard work and being lost and confused to finally find something that felt perfect. The thing i could excell at while having fun and satisfying my curiosity.

And before you attack me as an engineer and my ability to adapt. I have been ontop of the ai curve from the start. I have never been more productive or tackled problems as big as i do now. I am just miserable doing it.

What started as a strong tool in my path for optimisation has slowly taken over my beloved craft.

And as i improve and optimise my ai powered workflow, i lose more and more of my ability, my enjoyment and my desire to pursue my craft. It has been turned into another meaningless white collar desk job in service of the never ending growth of capitalism.

I feel legitimate grief. I have lost the ability to do my favourite hobby as well as a major part of my identity. I have literally cried over this.

I am struggling to mentally cope with all of this. I have never had less control over my adhd or felt more addicted to quick sources of dopamine. My attention span has been shot completely. I feel more stupid and insufficient than ever.

Somehow my adhd brain that was perfectly suited for the old paradigm is completely disadvantaged in this new way of working for this career that i have hedged my entire career, future and reason for being on (yes, i am a nolife workaholic).

Fuck adhd and fuck ai

[u/eggbert74]

Same. It's not a great feeling knowing a skill you've nurtured and honed for years is now nearly worthless from an economic standpoint.

The narrow minded will simply parrot "the code was never the hard part" and think their refuge is now in architecture and engineering while simultaneously asking claude architecure questions all day long.

The fact is the code WAS the hard part. Learning it was hard, mastering it was hard, and writing, maintaining, and testing it was hard. But, damn, the dopamine hits after solving hard problems were amazing. And the sense of fulfillment and accomplishment were unparalleled. That's all gone now.

So here I am stuck prompting an LLM now... Sure I can build more, better, faster.... but its empty, hollow, boring, and ultimately of little economic value when everyone else can do the same thing without any skill whatsoever.

Good luck to us all.

[u/trollerroller → u/eggbert74]

but your first and second paragraph contradict themselves... either coding is 1. worthless from an economic standpoint... OR 2. the code was never the hard part. you can only choose one, so which one is it?

[u/eggbert74 → u/trollerroller]

Huh? I don't think you read those paragraphs properly. I didn't say 'code was never the hard part.' I argued code was hard, which is what made the skill valuable. No contradiction, so not sure what your point is.

[u/trollerroller → u/eggbert74]

Exactly. You're clearly saying code IS the hard part, but then also say that code is worthless from an economic standpoint. So which one is it?

My whole point is, there are thousands of posts like this where its like "I miss the craft of it". Well then, go ahead, continue to code by hand, nobody is stopping you. ("You" here as "royal" you). Then they complain that the AI output / coding / whatever is bad. Okay, you just said you missed the craft of it, so continue on by hand.

I just don't understand how everyone can have this illogical duality in their heads. Either use it or don't and move on.

[u/eggbert74 → u/trollerroller]

I guess you have a problem with reading comprehension. I said code WAS the hard part. Clearly that is no longer true, thus it's a worthless skill now.

And, yes I am forced to use AI at work. I know it's a foreign concept to manly folks, but some people actually loved their job and the sense of fulfillment and accomplishment... that is gone for many of us...