Many software developers have taken unique paths to gain their expertise. Some are self-taught, learning through hands-on experience rather than formal education. One such developer shares their journey of learning programming without ever taking a computer science class, starting from the BASIC programs learned in junior high. Their story highlights the importance of experimentation, trial and error, and real-world practice in developing coding skills.

The Journey from Rookie to Skilled Developer

Back in the 1970s, programming was a niche interest, especially for young students. This developer loved writing simple text-based games after school, but being considered a “nerd” made them hesitant to pursue it further at the time. It wasn’t until the 1990s, during the rise of personal computers and shareware, that they revisited coding. Using Turbo Pascal for Windows, they created small applications, despite writing some pretty terrible code initially.

They recall struggling with fundamental concepts like string memory allocation and passing parameters, often relying on global variables because they lacked formal training. Learning was driven by asking questions on forums, reading books, and most of all, writing code, failing, and trying again. Over time, insights about passing data and understanding object-oriented programming started to click. This process of trial, error, and persistence ultimately built their expertise, even without classroom lessons.

The Nature of Developer Wisdom

The story emphasizes that true developer wisdom isn’t something you get solely from textbooks or formal education. Instead, it’s acquired through years of making mistakes, reading others’ code—both good and bad—and revisiting your own old work. Seeing how hard it is to maintain poorly written code teaches valuable lessons, often more than reading about best practices. Wisdom grows from the experience of fixing past mistakes and learning to avoid them in the future.

Interestingly, in today’s world, some argue that this traditional wisdom might be less necessary. With AI and advanced coding tools, developers can create software without deep understanding. AI models can generate code based on simple prompts, and developers can ask these tools for solutions rather than figuring things out on their own. This raises questions about the future of developer expertise and whether experience will still matter as much.

For example, one developer used an AI assistant to implement a website idea. They didn’t look at the generated code, trusting the AI to handle the technical details. When problems arose, they simply asked the AI to fix them. This approach works well, and the site functions perfectly without the developer needing to understand every line of code. It’s a new way of building software—less about internal wisdom and more about leveraging powerful tools.

While this shift might seem to devalue traditional skills, it also opens new possibilities. Developers can now focus on design, user experience, and higher-level thinking, leaving the routine coding to AI. Still, the foundational understanding of how code works remains valuable, especially when troubleshooting or customizing AI-generated solutions. Ultimately, the combination of human insight and AI assistance may define the next era of software development.

Inspired by

• https://www.infoworld.com/article/4158566/where-will-developer-wisdom-come-from.html

Sources

• wikipedia.org
• wikipedia.org
• cool.it