@MechMK1
Those damn junior developers, just copy-pasting code from AI models without understanding it. Back in my day, we used to copy-paste code from StackOverflow without understanding it.
@rrl9786
Counterpoint: no junior developer jobs have existed since 2022
@Brynjar1
>Juniors can't code >AI will replace you >Go back to the office I'm tired of this corporate slop articles that talk down on our colleagues.
@Vpaid
I think it is worth mentioning that the environment junior devs are entering is one in which bosses expect them to be shipping code faster than ever while using tools like GPT/Copilot/Claude.
@bartasus194
Junior never could do programming. Where do you think all those stories about intern dropping a database came from? Everybody sucked at the beginning and got better with time
@lupusebrius
I graduated from college before the AI boom, but could not get an entry level or junior programming job. Every job posting wanted 5+ years of 'enterprise level' experience at least. I would never hear back from most companies, and the ones I did hear back from if they gave a reason, it was always 'not enough experience.' Junior roles are pretty much gone at this point, everyone wants someone who's already expert and a 'rockstar' instead of investing in making one.
@LadyEmilyNyx
Nothing has changed. The people who were never going to learn, still aren't going to learn. And the ones who want to learn, will still learn. AI is just faster access to the information that was already out there. Whether it's a textbook example, or Google search, or a SO post, or an AI chat. The people who just want to copy/paste code are still going to copy/paste code. They're just doing it a little faster now. They're still never going to be any good. They're still never going to last very long. And our jobs will still be secure. Because AI doesn't WRITE code. It just regurgitates it.
@thebitterbeginning
The basic rule always applies: "You get out what you put in." If you are always looking for shortcuts, your learning will be shortcut as well.
@alexiscomix
First year of a CS degree, people cheated using AI so much in the first programming module that they changed the second one to be half teaching us Java and the other half trying to make us all program like prompt engineers who can't be arsed to memorise `public static void main(String[] args)`. I spent 15 minutes trying to teach a guy in one of my classes how to access a public member of a class. 10 weeks in. He couldnt remember ClassName.memberName, nor could he figure it out by himself. We are cooked.
@jamesfitzpatrick9607
There is something here that i think is also being overlooked i think. If you are comparing a junior dev from five years ago with one today, you also have five years more experience. You are looking at the new junior with rose tinted glasses. Then there is what happened yesterday when i accidentally started pair programming with someone I work with, I was waiting for ci to pass. They are not a junior developer, but would be more junior than. They wondered how i was able solve the bug so fast with very little context in the project they worked on. To that i think it is because I have more experience going into old code bases, and refactoring to make it easier to solve the bug. Where as they tend to work more on green field projects. So it is not just the length of the experience, but also the areas that the experiences are in.
@michaelralph5472
Junior devs don't have the time to sit and struggle. And no one is teaching them either. Its a case of hey heres a project, need it done in a week.
@jackdoug
This is such a big problem! I'm still a undergrad student. My internship has all new hires, all master degrees in Computer Science. I'm the ONLY person who can code on my team of 6 CS Graduates. Some of them can kind of script in Python. I fear this is not just an issue with Code, but CS concepts in general.
@Lycoriste
I remember back when people were debating about copying from stack overflow, and that engineers were just joking that they’re paid to stack overflow, that they hope to one day become the guy answering questions on stack overflow. Literally only 5-6 years ago.
@omg1tsGriff
When I finished my Com Sci degree I was one of the very people who could actually code an entire web application because I had learnt to code before I started university. University doesn't teach you how to code, you have 2 classes out of 10 that actually involve code. The rest is the science part of the Computer Science title. This is nothing new, juniors are now just using Generative AI as their pair programming partner rather than someone with experience. I guarantee you I've provided juniors with a solution that they haven't understood but have nodded their head in agreement for whatever reason.
@ysslfsdkjf84
Stackoverflow has ruined programmers, they used to be able to code in assembly without an internet connection and now all they do is google problems. -some old fart in 2011
@Бородатый-к2н
CS became a mature discipline. You got courses, universities, colleges... You got knowledge bases, books, so, ai. Now finding a good coder is similar to finding a good electrician or plumber: it is a challenge.
@OrbitalCookie
Group assignments: everyone waits until the last possible moment for someone to break under axiety and code it all in one evening.
@AzA609
Programming isn’t just about writing code. It is about being a problem solver. Over time, this AI dependency can lead to shallow understanding, reduced creativity, and difficulty handling complex, non-standard problems that AI alone cannot solve.
@christianf7740
It takes a real amount of problem solving time, struggle, pain/joy and passion to become a good coder.
@kristofferjohansson3768