AI Writes Code, But Software Engineering Demands More Than That

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A perspective piece published on DEV Community argues that the growing use of AI coding tools risks creating developers who can produce working applications without truly understanding them. The author distinguishes between AI-assisted code generation and genuine software engineering, which involves architectural decision-making, debugging, and accountability. The piece poses a self-assessment for developers, asking whether they could explain design choices, resolve production failures, or build systems independently without AI assistance. It warns that dependence on AI without building foundational knowledge may leave developers unable to handle real-world crises such as security breaches, data loss, or unexpected system failures. The author frames this not as an argument against AI use, but as a call for developers to ensure AI augments their skills rather than replacing the learning process itself.

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