Why It's Still Worth Learning to Code In Times of AI

14 Oct 2026 #coding

Is it still worth to code or should I learn to use ai instead?

What do you actually need to be able to do without AI?

Today I went to Reddit for inspiration and found almost the same question all over the place: Should I still learn to code?

Yes! Here’s why:

#1. Coding teaches you transferable skills. Like problem solving and troubleshooting.

#2. Coding teaches you how to learn any skill. You can’t simply learn all “coding” at once. You have to divide a skill into subskills and other learning strategies.

#3. AI needs real skills. When things breaks, you can’t vibe your way by prompting “Fix this” or “Don’t make mistakes.”

#4. AI is only making code generation faster. There’s more to be a coder or software engineer than writing lines of code.

#5. AI isn’t 100% replacing coders yet. Even [if AI takes over, there’s work to do. The job description will be (or already is) different.

#6. AI can’t be hold accountable. When things break, you can’t simply say, “AI did that.”

#7. Foundational skills won’t change much. There will be something else “replacing” coders. Yesterday, it was no-code, UML. Today is LLMs or agents. Tomorrow, chances are it will be something else. Problem decomposition, encapsulation, abstraction…Those fundamentals will be the same and matter more than ever.

“AI” isn’t the most important skill. It takes 10 years and a weekend to master coding with AI: 10 years to learn coding and a weekend to learn the most popular AI tool these days.

To build skills that last a career, check out Street-Smart Coding. The roadmap I wish I had on my coding journey.