20-Year Dev Asks: Does AI Speed Come at the Cost of Core Coding Skills?

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A front-end developer with two decades of experience has raised concerns about how heavy reliance on AI tools may be eroding foundational coding instincts. He noticed a telling moment when he accepted an AI's answer about browser compatibility without feeling the need to independently verify it on resources like caniuse.com. While he acknowledges that manual coding recall has likely declined, he argues this does not straightforwardly make him a worse developer. He now spends more time on architecture, critical code review, and prompt engineering — skills he considers legitimate parts of modern development. The reflection highlights a broader industry question about how AI is reshaping what it means to be a skilled software developer.

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