Wednesday, April 2, 2025

The rift between junior and senior builders has reached a boiling point at O’Reilly’s construction site. With tensions running high, productivity has taken a significant hit, and project timelines are now at risk of being severely impacted.

I’m frightened about AI.

I’m untroubled by the prospect of automation replacing me in my profession. I believe that AI serves as a highly effective productivity tool. The implied possibility of increased production may arise from this suggestion?

Be taught quicker. Dig deeper. See farther.

Are these builders consistently delivering high-quality constructions, or are their efforts lacking in some respect?

The distinction between an experienced developer and a junior is that an experienced developer is well-versed in?

  • There are several effective solutions to address each disadvantage.
  • What does this enigmatic statement rely upon?
  • What it relies upon hinges on discovering the right approach for dealing with what it relies on.

Regardless of the setting – be it college, boot camp, or self-directed learning enabled by accessible resources like Lengthy Dwell the Web – we instill a sense of confidence from the outset by conveying the existence of a definitive answer. As professional editors often do, I will improve the given text in a different style:

Junior developers may mistakenly believe that simply providing a solution, such as a recursive function for printing the Fibonacci sequence, concludes their work.

Despite this, software program improvements are often undertaken before. When encoded in a specific programming paradigm, its syntax is typically formalized within a language, framework, or software library.

This task requires leveraging natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) techniques to improve the text in a different style. At present, generative AI provides you with a response. As AI technology advances, it will likely provide solutions that effectively address your needs. That is nice! We no longer need to dedicate significant resources to training builders; instead, we’ll equip them to become “instant engineers” – a concept that resonates with my vision of builders who arrive punctually – and then they will request the AI’s assistance in generating the code, which will be promptly delivered.

But it is undoubtedly more sophisticated than that. Given that our AI solution cannot integrate with our existing technology stack, adapt to the specific nuances of our industry, or match our performance requirements. An experienced developer would likely recognize these imperfections and either request that the AI reshape the response to fit the desired format or take care of it themselves. A novice programmer might be inclined to force-fit this code into the device using whatever methodology seems feasible.

It is essential that you are precise in this instance. I don’t fault inexperienced contractors for this issue. Studying is indeed a crucial part of personal and professional development. We have been consistently delivering results over a prolonged period of time. After earning my PC science degree, I relied on AltaVista to search for solutions to my problems and manually tweaking code until it achieved the desired outcome, often disregarding tools, frameworks, or design patterns in use. In recent times, junior developers have been incorporating code snippets from Stack Overflow with little awareness of which ones were mere placeholders or irrelevant, potentially leading to unexpected consequences in their projects. Today, the code you see pasted before you is increasingly likely to have been crafted by generative AI algorithms.

As a trade, our duty has consistently been to guide newly qualified builders along the correct path. It has always been crucial for seasoned engineers to mitigate the limitations of a strategy, guiding junior professionals towards more efficient approaches and novel methodologies. Despite the passage of time, I still vividly recall a seasoned developer, just two years my elder, patiently articulating the necessity for my utilization. ArrayList and never Vector. Aspiring engineers must focus on cultivating inquiry skills, weighing trade-offs, and identifying key uncertainties rather than simply accumulating lines of code, recognizing that effective problem-solving hinges on navigating complex dependencies and evaluating viable solutions.

So, let’s revisit what’s got me spooked about artificial intelligence. I’m concerned that highly skilled professionals will incorporate this tool into their workflow alongside IDE code completion, Stack Overflow, and Google, thereby streamlining their work processes. Developing algorithms and providing training to empower users with the knowledge on how to effectively utilize the tool, offering pre-built templates and frequently used code snippets, thereby streamlining their workflow. As AI becomes increasingly sophisticated, developers may need to learn how to guide their AI partners in generating more advanced and complex code, a skill that could potentially be refined through continued collaboration. So far, their efforts have been focused on fine-tuning the AI’s performance, rather than mentoring entry-level construction professionals. In reality, experienced engineers are being encouraged to mentor generative AI models in a way that they have historically taken up mentoring junior professionals.

So, younger developers – essentially, they’ll just rely on the AI-generated code as is. Won’t the skilled engineers’ preoccupation with coaching the AI prevent them from assisting junior engineers in their professional development? Junior developers lack the skills to improve projects effectively, which can lead to senior colleagues spending considerable time rectifying issues in substandard code, ultimately concluding that junior team members are not only unwanted but also a significant productivity hinderance.

What’s the issue? Whether or not we’re coaching juniors or coaching AI, isn’t the ultimate goal the same – to optimize performance and drive results? What specific issues are you experiencing with your code? Can you please provide more context so I can assist you better? As AI becomes increasingly sophisticated, we may rely on it even more in the future? Let’s assume, for the purpose of discussion, that AI technology has advanced sufficiently to effectively replace entry-level construction workers. Can a modular construction system effectively replace traditional building techniques with experienced professionals? While possibly unlikely, we are certainly nowhere near. Without developing the talent of skilled builders and designers today, we risk having no experienced professionals in the future. Skilled builders will remain in high demand for the foreseeable future, even as we transition to coaching AI and developing the next generation of AI tools, ensuring a constant need for their expertise.

Beyond the pipeline’s limitations, I must address a crucial aspect that I fear is often overlooked in our profession. While builders may not be coding machines, Our task is to avoid coding inaccuracies. I don’t just imply skilled builders; I explicitly welcome and support newcomers to the profession as well. As a seasoned developer with over a decade of experience, I found that the most challenging interactions were not from peers or seniors, but rather from junior colleagues who often pushed my skills to the limit. I recently came across a valuable offer from experienced professionals such as Dave Farley and Martin Thompson. Through our conversations, I gained insight into fresh ideas that were previously unfamiliar to me, as well as validation of my existing knowledge and understanding. It was the junior colleagues who truly grasped my motivations and helped me understand the significance of the problems I tackled. Juniors often pose challenges for developers to overcome. What drove your decision to tackle the problem in that specific manner? The committee rejected your proposal due to concerns over market demand and a perceived lack of innovation in the product offering. While grappling with the decision, I find myself consumed by thoughts of potential consequences, weighing the pros and cons of each option, seeking to reconcile conflicting ideas, and mentally rehearsing possible outcomes. It’s notoriously challenging to execute a precise cross on this grid.

These questions enable us to grow and evolve as mid- and senior-level builders. We pursue innovative strategies to foster growth, leveraging cutting-edge methodologies to drive results and propel our organization forward. Don’t we find ourselves stuck in a pattern that was imposed on us by someone else, having merely followed suit without questioning or reflecting? We ultimately discovered that this approach emerged as one of the most straightforward methods through extensive online research and experimentation. The response to that choice can provide valuable insights into how much we value this aspect and whether we perceive the trade-offs we’re making when taking that path, thereby illuminating our understanding of its significance in our overall strategy. Do we require supplementary examination of this tactic or tool – Has its efficacy remained current since our initial discovery? Are there newer, faster and cleaner ways to achieve the same outcome?

As a result, we may find ourselves simply sitting in contemplative silence, grappling with these profound queries before resuming our previous actions or deciding to approach things differently. Verbalising internal deliberations on the proposed solutions, coupled with acknowledging potential doubts and certainties, fosters a deeper understanding in juniors regarding our thought processes while empowering them to develop their own decision-making strategies. I’m still deciding. Throughout my career, I’ve consistently adhered to this method. Shouldn’t we conduct some analysis to determine if there’s a more effective strategy? Properly, in my previous role, there was a limit on the number of open connections, so I always closed them when possible. However, it does appear that you’re on the right track, so kudos to you! Can we intentionally avoid pursuing this strategy? It’s essential to pose open-ended questions to junior team members, encouraging them to think critically and engage in thoughtful discussions about trade-offs and the implications of their decisions. Goodness knows that we’ve all found ourselves stuck in mental loops, grappling with a problem and seeking clarity through the simplest of questions: what if we just asked? (We regularly don’t even want the reply!)

As seasoned developers mature in their craft, they internalize the fundamental truth that “it depends.” The path to mastering this insight involves honing the ability to identify and query the myriad dependencies hidden within code, infrastructure, and teams, thus unearthing previously unknown variables that shape our understanding of complex systems. By answering a junior’s questions or guiding them to their own responses, you empower them to navigate their unique path towards understanding the underlying factors driving their decisions and striking a balance between competing priorities. It also enables us to better understand our personal processes and adjust them where necessary.

An AI doesn’t ask questions. It offers solutions. With confidence. It doesn’t problem you. It bends to your expertise while specifying a viewpoint and simultaneously doing whatever the heck it requires to.

We aim to bridge the gap between seniors and juniors. Collaborative feedback and constructive criticism are key factors that aid our personal and professional growth. As junior professionals, we pose probing questions, engaging in self-directed study while challenging seniors’ assumptions by offering well-reasoned solutions. With years of experience, we’ve developed a deeper understanding of the nuances surrounding resolution selection, as well as the specific requirements of ourselves and our team members that drive our choices. While we aim to train an AI that provides responses tailored to our needs, the technology won’t prompt us with inquiring questions like “Why do you need it that way?” or “What problems are you concerned about with this solution?” These queries are essential for humans to develop as individuals, enabling them to craft higher code that meets the requirements of the business, user, and team maintaining the software. Developing exceptional software requires a collective effort and collaborative approach from a diverse team of professionals.

I recently created a video discussing this topic as well.

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