The first four posts in this series set up a machine you can work on: the terminal and Homebrew , Python and virtual environments , an editor , and version control . This last one is about a tool that didn’t exist when Python Crash Course was written, and that has changed what it’s like to learn programming more than anything else on that list: an AI assistant sitting one keystroke away while you work. ...
For the past couple of months I’ve been asking myself whether twenty years of experience still counts for anything, and how I’m supposed to describe my work on LinkedIn if AI is doing all the work. The engineers who don’t use AI aren’t helping. The ones who refuse to aren’t either. “Ask your robot friend.” “Is this AI slop?” “Looks vibe coded.” Each one is a way of saying the work doesn’t count because of how it got done. The shade is loud. The doubt is mine. So this post is me writing my way to an answer. ...