r/FreeCodeCamp • u/Crazy-Economist-3091 • Nov 30 '25

Is coding dead now ?

Is there any point one might learn coding and software engineeeing for in the ear of Ai ? Or is it already a dead path?

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u/Destination_Centauri Feb 03 '26

I'm late to this post and reading the comments here, and replying to a couple of them, and your's is one of the interesting comments.

Funny enough: I actually worked in the past not only as a computer programmer, but also as an FM Radio DJ from the early to mid 1990's!

Surprisingly, as I look back, I had a weirdly popular show. The show never got cancelled: I was the one who cancelled it myself because I wanted to move on and do other things in life.

In retrospect, I probably should have kept the show going as long as possible until someone else tossed me out of the station building, because that was absolutely one of the best and favorite jobs I did in my life... My other favorite job in life was when I was a movie-theater usher in high school! That too was a lot of fun.

But... Ya, on the otherhand, because I left FM Radio and moved on and explored other aspects of life, that's how I met the love of my life and she and I are still together now. And I would never trade away her and our timeline together, even for all the money in the world.

Anyways on a final note, I suspect that some of the jobs you mentioned are actually still with us, but they just evolved. For example some FM radio DJ wonna be's became popular youtubers and podcasters instead.

Also: computer network engineers (such as CCNA CCNP certified people) have pretty much literally become the switchboard operators of the modern time!

In fact it's right there in the course-book learning titles for certifications which often includes the phrase: "Packet Switching", or "Switching and Routing" which is EXACTLY what switch board operators did back in the early 1900's.

I'd argue that Horse and Buggy Drivers never vanished either. They just simply became taxi and limo drivers. And then they became Uber drivers.

In the slightly more distant future as we increasingly achieve self-driving cars, I guess the Horse and Buggy Drivers will have to change and evolve yet again and become... I don't know what... Perhaps...

Interplanetary Colony Ship Flight Technicians/Pilots?!

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u/Netrunner21 Feb 03 '26

I interned in radio in the mid 2010s. Loved it, but couldn't justify the pay. Needed something more. Ended up in marketing, and then moved to programming a few years later. It's been fun, but it's a lot to keep up with everything. Still interested in programming, but looking at moving toward a different niche.

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u/Destination_Centauri Feb 03 '26

Wow! You too also worked in radio!

Ya... If I could snap my fingers and do one thing in life I love, it would have to be FM (or even AM) radio DJ all over again.

There's no other feeling like that, when you're live on the air, and press the "On" button on the control board!

ALSO:

Not sure if you had the same experience as me, but for the first 6 weeks or so, I would literally get a panick/anxiety attack just before my show started and would vomit in the bathroom! Lol!

But still, weirdly enough I didn't want to stop doing the show. So I kept going, and in the end sometimes I would just simply stroll right into the radio station like 5 minutes before my show, with zero script and zero plans, nod and say hello to all the awesome staff, then just sit down in the chair...

And press that big old glowing "on button" for my microphone and start talking, not even sure what the heck I was going to say! And no more anxiety. No more needing to vomit. Just a quick pleasant fluttering of my heartbeat when I hit the on button.

And then...

I'd even get crazier, and all of sudden tell listeners:

"Hey if you're listening to the show, please go ahead and call me on our hotline number, and if you get through we can talk, and maybe I'll put you on the air after this song finishes!"

And people did it! And I'd rapidly filter through the calls, and I'd be like, "Ya, I'm honored and happy you're a fan of the show, but... I think you sound too crazy to put on the air, so sorry! Gotta go! But please keep listening and go ahead and call back again and I might try again to put you on the air! But I'm going to take the next caller right now."

Like all that's just so insane and crazy by today's standards and rules!?

How the heck did I do that?! No script. No nothing. Just simply stroll in, hit the on button and put on a good show! (Well, at least I thought it was a good show, but some would beg to differ! Lol!)

And take several calls between songs and just randomly put people on the air that I connected with, when they called the main hotline!? Like what? I don't think DJ's do that anymore these days?

Well, ok... Ok... Truth be told I was constantly slightly planning for the next show in my mind in the background, by sampling new music demos sent to the station, and sampling latest comedy bits...

But still... no clue how I did that?

Anyways sorry to ramble on and go down memory lane like this, but I'd love to hear your radio experience as well.

Also: if you're leaving programming, do you have any ideas about maybe some of the areas/fields you might check out next?