FOMO and Writing Code in the Age of AI

Are you losing your mind over the FOMO in the sector and the five hundred daily new AI updates? Don't worry, you're not the only one feeling this way.

My point of view on "AI is going to take our jobs," the "I don't write code anymore" crowd, and the FOMO in the sector, plus tips that I think (even if they seem obvious) are worth remembering:

TL;DR:

  • Uninstall Social Media (or severely limit its use, filter and mute words) if you don't want to lose your mind with the thousand new things coming out every day saying that this one, yes this one, CHANGES EVERYTHING.
  • As I've been saying for years and months: Learn (and relearn) the basics: focus on software design and architecture and learn to write better tests, which are now more important than ever. If you don't know where to start: testing. Everything revolves around creating software that is as testable as possible. With every concept, architecture, pattern, etc., that you are learning, ask yourself the question: How does this help me make my software more testable and maintainable? And try to apply it to your day-to-day.
  • AI is a multiplier, so the most important number is the base. Time is limited; dedicate time to improving that base point, not on trying every single new thing that comes out as a victim of FOMO. Dedicate 20% to tinkering with new things and 80% to improving your foundations, not the other way around. Don't refuse to embrace what's coming either; they are still tools that improve our day-to-day and are becoming more powerful. I emphasize: tools, not substitutes. Use it to review code, to learn, to write code but with you guiding it and setting limitations.
  • WRITE code, documentation, notes, but WRITE.

I want to emphasize this last part, the writing:

Addy Osmani published the following just today:

"The dangerous part: it's trivially easy to review code you can no longer write from scratch. If your ability to "read" doesn't scale with the agent's ability to "output," you're not engineering anymore. You're hoping."

Link to article

Do you know what the best way to improve that reading skill is? Writing and practicing.

I clarify that the goal has always been and will always be to solve problems, not to write code just for the sake of it, but it remains the best medium we have. And when I refer to writing, I mean you writing: Don't read a book, watch a tutorial, or watch AI write code; I'm telling you to force yourself to do it, especially when you are learning something new.

Recommendations (in Spanish and English)

The main one: this is a long-distance race (even if it seems like the world is ending tomorrow), really, go step by step and choose what to learn based on your current job and projects and what you can implement in your day-to-day. It's hard, but over time you start to connect and fit the pieces together: