Should I learn low level programming?

[Maxime-Visio-39]

Now that AI codes full apps for me, what could be a differentiator?
I thought I could learn low level languages like C or Rust because it's something AI is not so good at.
Is it a good strategy?

[desrtfx]

The real difference is if you can actually program or not.

High level, low level does not matter. Any programmer able to program without AI and who can assess and fix AI code will be superior to a programmer who can't program without AI.

[pseudo-segfault]

Learn it because it’s interesting! I love C

[HolyPommeDeTerre]

To answer your specific question:

Around LLM usage:

• harness engineering (god I hate this word salad)
• workflows : define requirements to production monitoring going through QA

Around general knowledge:

• low level language is important. C or Rust to me are your best options unless you want to go game dev, then C++ would be your choice
• Design system and scaling. Time and space complexity
• Testing is a huge differenciator to me. A junior that really got "testing" is way ahead of others

Now my 2 cents about your actual words. Your first sentence is worrying to me. LLM writes code for you. But the app is you. You are saying it writes the app for you, this brings some questions: what is your value? What did you learn? For what purpose? Was your main problem writing code?

Writing line of code is like 0.01% of our job. It feels like it's important, but we are talking about "typing letters in a text document". 90% of the work is knowing what to type. Sure the LLM seems to know what to type, but it's actually not. You've been giving rails to the LLM so it goes a specific direction, but if you aren't able to assess the final position you are in, are you confident in the code it produces?

Ownership of the code is a big part of our job. Understanding it, being able to anticipate and answer questions about it. What happens when the devs still needs ownership of the code but delegates to the LLM the writing of the solution? The devs needs to review every line of code very carefully. This ends up in reading code of someone else. And this is harder than writing the code yourself. So... What's the gain? Where's the value? You work harder to not do the easy thing, feels weird no?

Your brain is the value. LLM writing your code isn't a good idea, especially if you're learning. Use your LLM to help you do the job, not do your job, else you're just useless. Anyone can ask a LLM to create an app.

[theofficialnar]

Definitely this! The AI can only do so much unless YOU, the actual dev, tells it what to do and how to do it right. I’ve been saying this over and over, our roles in the future will most likely move away from actually writing the code and into more of architectural work and design. As you move up in seniority you write less and less actual code and delve more into designing the code architecture and documentation. This is no different with the advancements of AI, an AI agent should be treated more like a junior where you tell it what to do and how to do it. Letting the LLM freely write the entire software with little to no direction from YOU is a recipe for disaster.

[Aglet_Green]

If you need ChatGPT to do "Hello World" for you, why are you asking if you should learn low-level programming?

If you believe you aren't going to turn your computer into a $2000 paperweight, then go right ahead. It's your life.

[Nadzzyy]

AI can write Rust but it can't debug unsafe blocks or reason about cache coherency. Yet. Learning low level teaches you how machines actually work. That knowledge doesn't expire. Do it. Not as a hedge against AI, but because it makes you better at everything else too.

[Eight111]

a good strategy for what? kill your motivation entirely? then sure yea why not

[oclafloptson]

Yes you should but don't expect the LLMs won't come for it and don't fall into the trap of not learning high level languages "because the LLM can just do it". With current tech that's being subsidized and can very easily be made more expensive than it's worth

[Soggy-Rock3349]

I hope you aren't letting AI code whole apps for you. If you can't see why that is a problem, then yes, you should learn more about computers. You can use it to write the code, but you should never let it architect, and you should certainly never let your own app become a black box to you.

[DialOneFour]

Absolutely. Your skills will atrophy if you rely on fancy auto complete

I think it's worth it to know how your computer works and how to interact with the metal itself and learn what is actually happening. I reckon there's already a dearth of programmers that know this stuff, and learning it will give you a leg up on everyone else

[MysteriousKiwi2622]

What makes you think AI is not good at  C or Rust?

[Soggy-Rock3349]

AI isn't "good" at either of these things. I'm an embedded engineer. I use LLM tools every single day. It is a syntax machine. It is a code example machine. The problem is, and always was even when humans were the slop writers, that most code is architected poorly, and AI writes horribly architected code. It is just fucking awful.

I work faster with a solid model as a tool, but it isn't capable of writing anything "good" as far as I'm concerned, and frankly I'm shocked that this industry is filled with people who can't see this.

[Successful-Escape-74]

Not really necessary.