In this essay, Carson Gross discusses his advice to young people interested in computer science worried about the future given the advancements in AI.

HTMX's platform is a resource for web developers, offering insights into building dynamic web applications with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Through articles, tutorials, and demos, HTMX offers insights into progressive enhancement techniques, AJAX-driven UIs, and server-side rendering. Readers can learn about using HTMX to add interactivity to their web applications, improve user experience, and simplify frontend development without relying heavily on JavaScript frameworks.

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Carson Gross, creator of htmx and CS professor at Montana State University, addresses whether aspiring programmers should still pursue the field given AI advancements. His answer is 'yes, and' — programming remains valuable, but juniors must resist the temptation to let AI generate code for them. Writing code yourself is essential to developing the ability to read, understand, and architect systems. He argues AI-generated code differs fundamentally from high-level languages because LLMs are non-deterministic and often add accidental complexity. AI is best used as a TA to unblock learners, not as a code generator. He also advises on job hunting via personal connections rather than online job boards, and predicts the current bad job market is cyclical and temporary.

> htmx ~ Yes, and...

Amen. And I can even say more. Our job as software developers can effectively be described in 4 points:
<ol>
<li>Design and problem solving.</li>
<li>Creating the solution (coding).</li>
<li>Learn from points 1. and 2.</li>
<li>Optimize using what you’ve learned.</li>
</ol>
Steps 2. and 3. is where all our constant (is should be constant) growth is happening. This is the place where you learn to read and write code, learn new techniques (pattenrs, algorithms, etc.), understand the code of others, etc. It’s like learning a spoken language - most of the time you learn it by using it (in speech, in text).
Step 4. is the natural consequence of steps 2. and 3. - you become better and better at your craft, your solutions become better with you.
Now, enter “AI” tools. What they do is basically eliminate steps 2. and 3., destroying step 4. and leaving you only with step 1. What’s happening? The growth stops, better understanding of code stops… Heck, understanding of code at all stops. You stop getting better at your craft. You just write a prompt and hope for the best. You can’t judge if the generated code is good or not, because you never went enough times through steps 2. to 4.
At this point, you’re basically a kid with a Casio keyboard - standing there, with “demo mode” turned on, pretending to be playing. No growth, no understanding of what you’re doing, just a constant prompt-grind, still hoping for the best.
Sorcerer’s Apprentice Trap, indeed.