I’ve been a web developer for over 10 years, primarily working on backend systems, APIs, and databases. I’m not an “anti-AI” guy, I use AI every day for coding, and even for things like fixing grammar in this article. I wanted to write this article for nearly six months or so, but for some reason, I kept putting it off. Today, I finally sat down to do it.
I’ve always enjoyed reading documentation. In Vim-like editors, a simple gd (go to definition) is often all it takes to dive into the heart of a function. That, in my opinion, is the best way to truly understand how a framework or software works. It also allows you to see how another developer approached a particular problem. This article is about my experience and perhaps it won’t resonate with everyone, but if it does, maybe it’s time to reconsider how we interact with code.
The AI Revolution
In 2020, OpenAI launched something that felt like science fiction to most of us, an LLM capable of mimicking human conversation. It was WOW!. Developers rushed to build wrappers, integrate ChatGPT into their applications, and enhance their software with AI-powered features. AI became the new SEO buzzword and a magnet for VC funding.
This era brought a surge of AI-powered development tools. GitHub introduced Copilot, and alternatives like Cursor, a fork of VSCode, emerged and many more. It felt like a new industrial revolution. An era where you could ask a virtual developer to fix a bug or simply start typing and have the code complete itself, as if by magic.
At first, everything seemed great. That is, until I noticed something strange happening in my own workflow.
The “TAB TAB TAB” Syndrome
One day, as I was writing code, I realized something off. Instead of thinking through my logic, my workflow had shifted from actual problem-solving to compulsively pressing TAB TAB TAB TAB. I wasn’t actively coding anymore, I was just letting the AI generate everything for me.
That moment was a wake-up call. I realized I was no longer enjoying the process of coding. The thinking, debugging, and problem-solving. The creative, intellectual challenge that made programming exciting had started to disappear.
So I decided to conduct an experiment: I turned off AI-assisted coding for two weeks.
Rediscovering the Joy of Coding
The first day was tough. Breaking the habit of waiting for AI suggestions was harder than I expected. By the second or third day, I found myself reaching for Google again, checking documentation, and manually implementing solutions.
Then came another revelation, I wrote the same feature twice, but this time, I understood why I wrote it that way. I grasped the underlying logic, the reasoning behind the decisions. It felt like my brain was waking up, neurons and synapses firing in a way they hadn’t in months.
I started enjoying coding again. I found inspiration in content from developers like @DevAsLife, whose videos not only have stunning visuals but also showcase deep dives into code. Unlike the flood of “Build a SaaS in 2 Days While Sleeping!” content, his approach resonated with me.
Another creator, @Tsoding, his content reminded me that true understanding comes from engaging with code, not just consuming AI-generated snippets, this guy uses Emacs, no Intellisense, just pure skill. And then there’s @HusseinNasser, who explains the inner workings of databases like PostgreSQL, dissecting why a SELECT statement behaves a certain way. These are the creators we need, people who champion understanding over shortcuts. And last but not least, @ThePrimeagen, whose hilarious content makes learning fun while showcasing his mastery various programming languages, all thanks to his rock-solid grasp of the fundamentals. I can’t thank Salvatore Sanfilippo (@antirez), the creator of Redis, enough for his contributions to open source and his deep critical thinking about the software industry.
A Look Back: When Documentation Was King
I remember being 15 (18 years ago 🥲) and learning PHP. Stack Overflow wasn’t as big yet, and finding answers often meant digging through forums filled with half-baked solutions, each dependent on specific hosting configurations. There was no universal standard, some hosts supported certain php.ini settings while others didn’t. The only reliable resource? The official PHP documentation: php.net.
Finding Balance
I still use AI in my editor, but I’ve redefined how I interact with it. When I need to build something quickly, I’ll let AI assist me. But for at least 50% of my projects, I now choose to enjoy the process of coding.
If I’m hacking together an MVP for a quick experiment, sure, I’ll “TAB” my way through it. But if I want to grow as a developer and truly understand my craft, I turn back to the fundamentals: documentation, debugging, and deep thinking.
Because in the end, if all you do is press TAB, you’re just another operator, not a developer. And that’s not why I fell in love with coding.
Top comments (1)
True (the quote and everything else you wrote) - there are people who I call engineers by heart - always looking to understand and build stuff that doesn't exist yet... They'll never rest ...with TAB TAB TAB... :)