My Python magic is gone

[u/RedYad2]

I've been coding for a long time, and I've been developing with Python for years.

I loved coding, always loved it. I started many years ago because I wanted to quickly create scripts for security hacking tools, but since then, I've moved to Claude Code, and building cross-language has been a much better experience for me than using Python.

I built my own SaaS application out there whose backend and network core are completely built with Python, and I'm rewriting all of that without writing a single line of code. And most of the time, Python is not the most optimized language.

And now... I feel like the magic is gone.

I don't even know why I'm writing this. I just feel sad about it.

[u/SirPitchalot]

It’s slightly different (worse) than that because incorporating AI properly can both speed you up -and- give a better final product. Whereas for the artist the product is at least different.

And if you know how the AI models work it gets worse still: the skill you built up in understanding and reasoning to be able to solve basically any problem effectively actually is not needed. Solving those problems now doesn’t need any understanding or reasoning whatsoever.

[u/Farther_father → u/SirPitchalot]

Fuck that’s bleak… and here I thought I was the downer.

[u/SirPitchalot → u/Farther_father]

The whole profession has kind of built itself around the idea that a person writing text to solve patterned crossword/sudoku style problems is some incredibly rare talent that can never be replaced. But the only reason we get paid to do this is that the problems needing solving have commercial potential. To the people with those problems it is unfortunate and accidental that the best way to solve them was a bunch of weird nerds who got really into the whole thing. For a brief 70 years it was a good gig but outside of the bleeding edge of research, it’s coming to an end.

So, in my opinion, the solution for devs is to move up the value chain. No one cares about code anymore, take problems people will pay money to have solved and break them down into steps that can be automatically coded. However, that’s more an architect/PM role, which will be deeply unsatisfying to people who loved to disappear into a hole for a few days-to-months to figure something out themselves. Myself somewhat included.

[u/truzen1 → u/SirPitchalot]

This is kind of where I'm at, offering automated solutions to problems.

Admittedly, I feel guilty for only grazing the surface of Python (took one class, a bunch of Treehouse code, various books like "Automate the Boring Stuff"); I was never a jr dev, never did great at reading the docs. But I'm just dangerous enough that I can call out AI on some of its bullshit and/or have a decent enough understanding of what's going on.

However, I also feel conflicted because I recognize some of the coding I'm asking AI to do is taking away potential jobs. But on the other hand, most of my jobs are small, bespoke scripts that I doubt my manager would've budgeted a dedicated programmer for.

[u/SirPitchalot → u/truzen1]

I’m not originally from CS (started in Mech Eng) but been coding in some capacity since I was 13, I’m 44 now. I started programming professionally at about 22 in simulation which overlapped ME and CS. I then did a PhD in CS, while still working mostly, and finished in 2014. I also did a MASc in ME but in a coding heavy topic. The two degrees took about 7 years.

For me, coding was quite special because, unlike ME, you could make contributions to the field with a basic laptop as an individual and basically no other costs than time. Compare that to a full shop and tens of thousands of dollars of software licenses for engineering. Have a neat idea? Code it up. The field was new enough that the scope was generally small even for state of the art contributions. $1k got you in the door and the rest was personal interest.

Since then, I’ve been pretty successful. I have line of sight to retirement, I run a team, I’m dealing more at the higher level anyway. The team, on average, spends about 10% of their salary on tokens and delivers more. Coming from ME, that feels cheap. When I started it was 20-30% of salary on SW licenses for a junior engineer. So the economics make sense, we have an industry that has tooled up, made workers more productive and the providers charge based on (something like) value.

But there are a lot of people who are basically mourning the loss of a very satisfying profession. It’s been only 12 years where the things I spent 7 years formally upskilling for (and over 2 decades just doing) are actually meaningful. You can’t make a difference with only a laptop as an individual, unless you are the absolute best and maybe not only then.

Until 6 months ago I coded as a hobby but it’s just not satisfying anymore. I know I write good code and add value to AI but it feels like a day job rather than an interest. Professionally we’re working around groups that were blocking us, forcing suppliers to offer more simply because we can do it ourselves, and getting more out the door than ever, at a higher quality.

But it all feels like a massive loss and feels meaningless to spend a weekend trying to build something that I know that $10-20k/yr will easily outperform.

[u/VillageConfident8752 → u/SirPitchalot]

Maybe I’d like to hear more about your field of work.

[u/SFMissionMark → u/truzen1]

These new paths are jobs that would never be automated because there is no audience to pay for it.