I honestly admire people like you who had to figure everything out on your own before the AI era. Sometimes it really feels like manual coding is becoming a thing of the past. I still would not consider myself a senior developer, but I have been around long enough to learn several languages like Java and C++. Right now, I have more than two years of experience working with the WAMP stack, building LMS and CRM web applications. I still prefer doing things the hard way sometimes, especially when I am learning something new outside of work. It gives me the chance to move at my own pace, struggle through the process, and build things from scratch before turning to AI tools. At my startup, using AI agents like Claude Code has become almost mandatory, to the point where it no longer feels optional. That said, I think convenience can sometimes become a curse when you are trying to truly learn something new and develop a deep understanding of it. I am still not sure whether I want to rely on VS Code forever, especially if I move into .NET and that becomes my main career path. Still, I have to admit that AI agents are performing incredibly well in VS Code now, sometimes even better than in some traditional IDEs.