New Rules of an Old Game
When I first started programming, my mentor used to say: "Good code comes from understanding, not from copying." Now, watching how AI is changing our work, I often recall these words.
Over the past six months, our team has been actively using tools like Copilot and ChatGPT. At first, it seemed like just a convenient way to generate code faster. But gradually it became clear that we were facing something deeper — a shift in the very nature of development.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
What's most interesting is observing how differently people interact with the new tools. Some colleagues use AI as a smart keyboard — for autocompletion and speeding up routine tasks. Others try to delegate entire chunks of work to it, and then spend hours fixing non-obvious errors.
A particularly telling story was the refactoring of an old module. The developer who understood the domain well completed the work in a day with the help of AI. His colleague, less familiar with the system, spent three days, even though he technically used the same tools. The difference wasn't in coding speed, but in the ability to ask the right questions and evaluate the answers.
Depth in the Age of Speed
What has truly changed is the value of fundamental knowledge. In the past, one could gradually figure out the system by fixing bugs and adding features. Now, when AI instantly provides solutions, the temptation to skip the deep understanding stage has become too great.
We've noticed that those who initially invested time in learning the basics now get a double advantage. They not only work faster — they create more meaningful solutions. Their code integrates better with the overall architecture and is easier to maintain.
Our Path to Balance
In the team, we are gradually developing new approaches to work. For example, we introduced a rule: before using generated code, you need to explain how it works. At first, it seemed like an extra step, but now we see how this practice helps maintain an understanding of what's happening.
We've also started paying more attention to design. When AI takes over writing code, system design becomes a key skill. Now in code reviews, we often discuss not so much syntax as architectural decisions.
What Remains Unchanged
Oddly enough, the main rule of programming hasn't changed: to write good code, you need to understand what you're doing. AI doesn't cancel this principle — it just makes it more explicit.
Now a developer's value is determined not only by whether they can solve a problem, but by how deeply they understand their solution. And in this sense, perhaps AI is making our profession even more interesting than before.