The Rapid Evolution of Software Engineering
The barrier to entry for becoming a developer is dropping every day. The most recent phenomenon is Anysphere’s Cursor AI coding tool, which has essentially democratized software development. Now, tools like Codeium, Magic, and Zed AI are entering the market, following the same trend.
This raises a crucial question: what will happen to today’s software developers? Graduating with computer science degrees, they now compete with people becoming software engineers through AI tools. The turmoil for an average software engineer is real. The solution? Upskill and focus on building foundational AI.
A Profession Like Never Before
Since there is no barrier to entry, no degree requirements, and no regulations about who can join the market, software engineering has become a profession like never before. There are plenty of opportunities for developers to upskill. But the question remains: upskill to what? The conversation swiftly changes from LLMs to SLMs to coding assistants to AI agents, making it challenging to determine which new skills are worth acquiring.
The Technological Shift
Saket Agrawal, a developer from IIT Guwahati, notes that it’s not just a technological shift but an advancement in automation tools that reduce time and effort for the same skills. He believes that existing software skills won’t suddenly become obsolete, but continuous skills updates are necessary.
The Future of Software Engineering
Many discuss that software engineering jobs are dying. Debarghya Das from Menlo Ventures says that many current software engineering jobs will become a distant memory. Scott Stouffer adds another layer by suggesting that some are experiencing an upgrade in their lives faster than others. This could imply a divide between those who adapt quickly to technological advancements and those who struggle to keep up.
LLMs to Upskill?
There is an interesting caveat to this conversation around upskilling. Hardcore skilled developers believe that leveraging tools like Cursor can elevate them to levels new developers might never reach. Yann LeCun advises developers entering the AI field to avoid working on LLMs. Andrej Karpathy recently said that the future of coding is “tab tab tab,” referring to auto code completion tools like Cursor.
Some people are skeptical about entering the computer science field. A user replying to Karpathy mentioned that if they were new to programming, they would be tempted to skip actual learning in favor of more LLM usage, resulting in many knowledge gaps. This sentiment echoes what Francois Chollet, the creator of Keras, said a few months ago. He predicted that there would be more software engineers in five years than there are today.
The Role of Highly Skilled Developers
Developers proficient in coding without code generators can never be replaced. People who built programming languages and foundational tools remain well-versed in coding, unlike those using Cursor to build apps. While there may be an abundance of people building apps in the future, the scope would be limited to that. Meanwhile, highly skilled 10x developers would focus on leveraging such tools or finding flaws in them to create even better software.
For instance, companies like Pipeshift AI, Groq, and Jarvis Labs are working on problems beyond coding. Enhancing hardware or building infrastructure for future workloads can only be comprehended by experts in the field. Such AI tools can never replace human intelligence or jobs; they can only augment them.
Managing AI Coding Agents
In the near future, predictions suggest that software engineering will involve managing AI coding agents and directing them on how to code. This will make every engineer akin to an engineering manager, delegating basic tasks to coding agents while focusing on higher-level aspects like understanding requirements and architecting systems.
It is high time that software engineers start upskilling themselves. Currently, using generative AI tools seems the best way forward. Who knows, you might also become a solo entrepreneur building a billion-dollar company alone.
Conclusion
The landscape of software engineering is changing rapidly. With the advent of AI tools like Cursor, the need for software engineers to upskill has never been more urgent. The future of software engineering lies in managing AI coding agents and leveraging generative AI tools. By focusing on these areas, developers can ensure they remain relevant and competitive in this ever-evolving field.
Internal Links:
- Indian Engineers Say Most College Professors Don’t Know Programming
- 8 Resources to Help You Learn Coding with Cursor
- Why Developers are Uninstalling VS Code
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