Do you still need to learn to code? The answer is 'yes, and'

A professor's essay titled "Yes, and" argues students should still learn to code. His reasoning: if they can't write code, they won't be able to read it, and reading will matter more in an AI-heavy world. The top comment said the better answer is "No, but...", because years of commitment are hard to justify if AI keeps improving. Another commenter called it sad that the professor's job advice is still "networking," which punishes people without connections.

Older threads in the batch show the opposite pole. A 60-year-old says Claude Code re-ignited a passion. A 51-year-old electrical engineer says it gave him the guts to go solo-founder. An engineering manager says he's building side projects at breakneck pace. One commenter found the same workflow "unfulfilling."

The split is by experience. Senior people use AI as leverage over skills they already have. Beginners are being told to learn skills whose payoff has become uncertain, and the entry-level path gets thinner.