“The software engineering skill that's valuable is solving the problems—not writing the code.”
Awesome post, Logan! I’ve been thinking about this quote above, which I think is true for other functions as well: product, design, data, etc.
I’m wondering how all these functions change when, at their core, they’re all problem solvers, and a growing portion of the role is automated by AI. This is already true in many cases: a really great designer can pick up a lot of product work, a technical pm can straddle the eng / prod divide, and a great engineer can piece together a solid roadmap.
I’m really curious how these functions evolve over the next few years - would love to read a post on this topic.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, and especially grateful for the GitHub ML learning resource. 🙏
Thanks Reid! At this point, I don’t think anyone really knows how the progression of AI will shift a lot of these jobs or the time horizon for when it’ll take place. AI is still very young with a lot of unknowns. This is definitely something I’ll share more about as I learn more about it myself.
Enjoyed this post, Logan. I think you’re right on the money here. The thing that’s always mattered most is thinking and problem solving. Whether it’s programming or writing, that’s the skill we should be focusing on cultivating.
this is by far the most interesting and realistic post about Devin I've read so far. What you have pointed out in terms of what SE is and how it could be achieve is true and also voiced by many seniors.
This write-up is so intuitive and an eye-opener. Being a newbie, I almost thought it is over for my transition into tech when Devin was introduced - I was like, why now! But, understanding how Machine Learning works to an extent and seeing the potential and the import it will have on work-flow if implemented, I was flabbergasted to say the least. Now your write-up is like the icing on the cake. Thanks so much for this piece!
I'm glad you enjoyed it, Godwin! It was specifically written to clarify Devin's impact for those getting into tech/ML who are now incorrectly being told their job won't exist anymore.
Thanks Logan for reminding ourselves what is the most important value of coding (math, science principles, thinking clearly, writing, etc): solving problems to have a positive impact on the world. What would you say is the best way to structure a course in order to focus on learning how to solve real and important problems?
That’s a really question. Fortunately, a lot of CS principles help teach problem-solving skills. The time I see CS course fail to teach problem-solving skills is when they focus too much on a specific language (unless it’s a course on the language, of course). I think the best way to really help these skills sink in is to help others build using them to see why they’re important and valuable while also thinking through problems from beginning to end. Those are my thoughts, at least. What do you think?
I agree. When I'm being an instructor in a course, I usually put a realistic problem at the center and at the beginning of the class, and then I show the tools, concepts and principles that can help to solve the problem. As you said, "thinking through problems from beginning to end".
“The software engineering skill that's valuable is solving the problems—not writing the code.”
Awesome post, Logan! I’ve been thinking about this quote above, which I think is true for other functions as well: product, design, data, etc.
I’m wondering how all these functions change when, at their core, they’re all problem solvers, and a growing portion of the role is automated by AI. This is already true in many cases: a really great designer can pick up a lot of product work, a technical pm can straddle the eng / prod divide, and a great engineer can piece together a solid roadmap.
I’m really curious how these functions evolve over the next few years - would love to read a post on this topic.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, and especially grateful for the GitHub ML learning resource. 🙏
Thanks Reid! At this point, I don’t think anyone really knows how the progression of AI will shift a lot of these jobs or the time horizon for when it’ll take place. AI is still very young with a lot of unknowns. This is definitely something I’ll share more about as I learn more about it myself.
Enjoyed this post, Logan. I think you’re right on the money here. The thing that’s always mattered most is thinking and problem solving. Whether it’s programming or writing, that’s the skill we should be focusing on cultivating.
Thanks! I’m hoping AI will allow us to focus on the thinking and problem solving and get some of the other things out of the way.
this is by far the most interesting and realistic post about Devin I've read so far. What you have pointed out in terms of what SE is and how it could be achieve is true and also voiced by many seniors.
Thanks Hesam! An understanding of what actually makes SWEs valuable is super overlooked but very important.
This write-up is so intuitive and an eye-opener. Being a newbie, I almost thought it is over for my transition into tech when Devin was introduced - I was like, why now! But, understanding how Machine Learning works to an extent and seeing the potential and the import it will have on work-flow if implemented, I was flabbergasted to say the least. Now your write-up is like the icing on the cake. Thanks so much for this piece!
I'm glad you enjoyed it, Godwin! It was specifically written to clarify Devin's impact for those getting into tech/ML who are now incorrectly being told their job won't exist anymore.
Thanks Logan for reminding ourselves what is the most important value of coding (math, science principles, thinking clearly, writing, etc): solving problems to have a positive impact on the world. What would you say is the best way to structure a course in order to focus on learning how to solve real and important problems?
That’s a really question. Fortunately, a lot of CS principles help teach problem-solving skills. The time I see CS course fail to teach problem-solving skills is when they focus too much on a specific language (unless it’s a course on the language, of course). I think the best way to really help these skills sink in is to help others build using them to see why they’re important and valuable while also thinking through problems from beginning to end. Those are my thoughts, at least. What do you think?
I agree. When I'm being an instructor in a course, I usually put a realistic problem at the center and at the beginning of the class, and then I show the tools, concepts and principles that can help to solve the problem. As you said, "thinking through problems from beginning to end".