January 4, 2026
Bots mop. Devs mic drop
Web development is fun again
Coders say AI does the boring chores so building feels like play
TLDR: A veteran dev says AI assistants make building websites simple and fun again, and the comments cheer: people are shipping faster, reviving side projects, and skipping messy tool stacks. Some worry about sloppy code, but most say AI handles the grunt work so humans can focus on creativity.
Old-school web devs are getting misty-eyed—and then rolling up their sleeves. After years of tangled tools and confusing trends, the original post says AI helpers like Claude and Codex make building websites feel simple again. The comments section? It’s a full-on victory parade. One fan declares that large language models (LLMs) “bailed us out” of runaway complexity, joking they’re ready to “vibe-code” everything from graphics to circuit boards.
Not everyone agrees on the reason for the glow-up, but most agree it’s real. One commenter says they can finally ship apps without touching the “chaos” of trendy front-end tools. Another celebrates the comeback of busy parents and managers: people are coding again in spare minutes, even while juggling life. The vibe is summed up perfectly by the line: “AI is doing the chores while we paint.” Studies that claim AI slows devs down get dunked on; builders insist they’re launching more side projects than ever, and even joke their famously bloated “node_modules” folder—the notorious stash of thousands of tiny add-ons—is finally shrinking.
The only real drama? The specter of “slop code.” But this crowd shrugs: with taste, checks, and iteration, AI’s the co-worker that cleans up the mess—and brings the fun back.
Key Points
- •The author contrasts earlier web development workflows (e.g., PHP 4, jQuery, Dreamweaver) with today’s more complex frontend and backend ecosystems.
- •Modern frontend demands (bundlers, PWAs, Core Web Vitals, SEO, responsive images) and backend practices (tests, APIs, observability) require deeper specialization.
- •As a result, the author specialized in backend/server infrastructure and reduced frontend involvement due to tooling complexity.
- •AI tools (Claude and Codex) restored the author’s ability to manage the full stack, shortening idea-to-execution timelines to days.
- •The author reports substantial productivity gains and cognitive relief using AI, enabling more time for UI/UX experimentation and quality-of-life improvements.