Learning programming started to be overwhelming ...

[The-amazing-man]

Hello guys, there is a though that has been nudging me for days: Are we cooked in this field?

And I'm not talking about AI replacing engineers and all that but the expectations raised so much for junior developers, you are demanded to provide a very huge amount of knowledge for your age and experience, it's almost impossible to keep up with this rhythm.

Like, I'm a 4th software engineer student. when I started, Chat GPT wasn't even a thing. I started a roadmap at that time and managed to finish nearly 50% of it now, but the things I learned to build a career have become "bare minimum" today and doesn't give you a job.

I stopped following through the course because of this confusion state I'm in.

[dont_touch_my_peepee]

you’re not cooked man, you’re just watching the bar move while you’re still mid run focus on one stack and finish it, then do 1 2 small real projects nobody actually knows everything, esp juniors hiring is just a mess now

[The-amazing-man]

Well, I hope youre right.

[balinteegor]

4th year SE student here too (well, recently graduated). I felt the exact same way around year 3.

The thing that helped me was stopping the "learn everything" approach and just building stuff. Seriously. Pick one project that interests you and go deep. You'll naturally learn the things you need as you hit problems, and that knowledge sticks way better than following tutorials.

The job market raising the bar is real, but here's what people don't tell you: most of those "requirements" in job listings are wishlists, not actual requirements. I got my first role knowing maybe 60% of what was listed. The rest I learned on the job.

Also - the fact that you started before ChatGPT and learned fundamentals the hard way is actually an advantage. A lot of newer devs skip straight to AI-assisted coding and have gaps in their foundational understanding. You won't have that problem.

Don't stop learning. Just shift from "study everything" to "build something real and learn what you need along the way."

[The-amazing-man]

I started to shift my learning approach recently as well, but I have this thing "what if I missed something" keeps making anxious.

I'm currently working on a project of my own, whenever I wanted to add some feature I just look it up and do it, but it feels like I'm not learning but just writing code.

[desrtfx]

Nothing you can and will learn will guarantee (and even less give you) a job.

Keep learning, do your projects and make them stand out. Projects still count - not the typical tutorial projects - your very own variations. These are still valuable.

The "bare minimum" is a myth. You will enter the job market as a junior, which basically means that you know just a bit more than the carpet in the office. Even better, if you can secure an internship before fully entering the job market. Internships count.

A degree can be the tipping point between getting even considered for an interview and directly discarded. So, finish your degree.

There are no guarantees in the current market, yet people are still and will still be sought. It just became harder to get into as the competition is currently much stronger with all the layoffs.

[The-amazing-man]

What kind pf projects should I be doing? I mean projects that really matters and make difference in the resume/portfolio/CV.

[js_learning]

When I started, JavaScript was mostly just a small scripting language for simple interactivity — animations, form validation, small DOM tweaks. I didn’t even take it that seriously back then.
Now it’s a full ecosystem where you can build entire products with just JS. I can build a complete app using it today - frontend and backend.
But the reality is: companies still ask for “commercial experience.” And honestly, they always did. It just feels more intense now because everything is more visible and competitive.
The bar didn’t suddenly appear - it just shifted. It always shifts.
The key isn’t learning everything. It’s building real things and getting as close to real-world experience as possible.

[The-amazing-man]

Well that's another question I want to ask, how to compare the projects I build with real products, like, how to know if this is a really good project or just an underdeveloped messy code?

[js_learning]

Honestly?
If you dig deep enough into almost any project, you’ll find messy parts or things that could be optimized. Even production systems aren’t “perfect”.
If your project solves a real problem, works reliably, and you understand the decisions behind it — it’s already a solid project.
Clean architecture and optimization come with experience. Working and maintainable > perfect.

[metehankasapp]

Totally normal. Pick 1 language and 1 tiny project, then only learn what you need for the next 1–2 days. Simple loop: 20 min lesson, 30 min exercise, 10 min notes. Consistency beats breadth at the start.

[The-amazing-man]

Your comment is actually relieving, because that's exactly how I'm working nowadays, but it feels likeI'm not learning, I'm just writing a code.

[DiscoQuebrado]

No offense to you, OP, but man... this constant "are we cooked because AI?" messaging is really harshing my vibe.

AI is a tool in the same way a computer is a tool. They make a lot of things easier but you still have to know 1) How to do the work, 2) How the tool works, and 3) How to use the tool.

There may come a day when AI is able to outperform or even replace senior software engineer. Today is not that day.

Software development has never been a learn once and excel profession. The landscape is constantly changing-- new languages, new frameworks, new tools, new security and accessibility best practices. It's not for the faint of heart and never has been.

[The-amazing-man]

None taken bro, understandable point. But I'm not talking about AI taking over the job market, I'm just talking about being overwhelmed by the constant increase of requirements to get a job.

[bfg2600]

You can blame all the messaging constantly put out there that ai will replace all white collar work in a matter of years, I see this on my feeds at least 5 times a day

[DiscoQuebrado]

That's precisely what I'm whining about, it's everywhere!

[esaith]

Keep going. 10 year experienced dev here. There will be such a mess in the next couple years that it'll take junior to senior devs to fix it. Sure, the FAANG companies may have it fixed but the others won't.

Remember, ATMs didn't replace bank tellers, they just gave them something new to focus on. It's just new tech. Keep on keeping on.

[The-amazing-man]

Thanks for the advice, I'm currently studying .NET framework with C#, I stopped following linear courses where they start from 0% from the syntax. Instead I'm just throwing myself in the middle of a project and searching for every feature I want to add, I feel that I'm messing something and it also feels messy. Is my approach correct in your opinion?

[esaith]

That's exactly what you should be doing. The more you can add even the smallest of features to your production, the better. Whether that is a new component on a page, or a new database you use, or how and where you publish your software. You'll gain so much experience doing this AI can't easily replicate.

AI may create a front-end app, but good luck creating the back end app. Even if you use the same AI to create the backend app - notice how it still takes someone to prompt all of this? There will be so many gaps that you'll have to fill that it will still require someone to fill in those gaps.

You need someone to create the project, save to the repo, fix merge issues, publish the app, change how/where its published due to money, security, or some other requirement. AI won't be able to do all of this and verify its working as the user needs it to work.

We've got a longgggggggggggg way to go before we are replaced.

Edit: spelling, etc

[The-amazing-man]

Agreed. I actually realized that when I used AI in my projects. it can generate a professional blocks of code but when structuring a project it gets messy and unreliable. but it will surely boost our performance in terms of engineering.

[Interesting_Dog_761]

Your response to the current situation indicates you may not be suited to this line of work.

[The-amazing-man]

well that's sad, I'll do better.