If you’re just starting out in software development, or you’re busy studying computer science at school or university and planning a career in IT, all you’ll be hearing right now is how your intended profession is a dead duck. Do not despair. I have some important news for you.
The most popular predictions are rarely the right ones. They’re just what happens when humans choose to behave like LLMs (large language machines) and say the first thing that comes to mind. A sort of verbal Rorschach test, if you will.
I’ve seen so many predictions about software development. They’re always made by people with little understanding of its complexities, or by “famous” men who don’t care about being right, but do have a vested financial interest in people believing they are.
I’ve also made a very good living out of cleaning up the mess left behind when the predictions that everyone acted upon turn out to be wrong. And I’m not alone. A whole generation of software developers have done the same.
So, do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad? Okay.
The bad news is that you’re going to be spending a significant amount of your career cleaning up messes just like we did. You’ll yearn for Greenfield projects, but they’ll be few and far between.
The good news is… well, that’s also the good news.
If this job was easy; if this job could really be done by AI; there’d be a lot less of us around.
Some people would prefer that. They’re uncomfortable with the idea that the builders and engineers are hobnobbing with the lawyers, accountants, bankers and managers. That’s not how society is supposed to be. We get our hands dirty, and that’s not what real gentlemen do.
That’s why they love the conveniently convincing predictions of the end of software engineers. That’s why they’re rushing to eliminate us from the white collar world. They’re not progressing; they’re just trying to reassert an old world order from 100 years ago.
It won’t be long before they find themselves having to reverse the damage they’ve done to themselves.
They won’t say sorry, and they won’t say thank you. Quite the opposite. They’ll complain that you’re paid the same, or maybe more, than they are, because that’s not how it’s supposed to be.
But they will need you, and you will be okay.
So if it’s software you love and technology that excites you, keep the faith. Work goes on for a long time, so you better make sure it’s something you enjoy.
