July 6, 2026
Ctrl+Alt+Debate
Learning to code is still worthwhile
AI can help, but the comments say learning code still isn’t dead yet
TLDR: Steve Krouse says learning to code still matters because it teaches thinking, creativity, and problem-solving, even if AI can now write some software for you. Commenters were split between rolling their eyes at a coding-tool founder saying this and warning that letting AI do everything will leave people clueless when things break.
A startup founder just stepped into the "should anyone still learn to code?" battlefield and, wow, the comments wasted no time turning it into a full-on internet brawl. In his essay, Steve Krouse argues that writing software is still worth learning even if artificial intelligence can now spit out chunks of it for you. His pitch is less "get rich quick" and more "train your brain": coding teaches logic, problem-solving, and even creativity, like writing mixed with puzzle-solving and a little bit of wizardry.
But the crowd was not about to let that message pass without side-eye. One of the loudest reactions was basically: easy for the guy selling coding tools to say! That got a knowing laugh from readers who clocked the obvious conflict of interest immediately. Others went even bigger, dragging geopolitics into it, claiming the only reason coding still matters is that some countries may slow down smarter AI while others race ahead. Casual!
Still, the pro-learning camp came in hot too. Several commenters argued that trusting AI to do everything without understanding the basics is a disaster waiting to happen. One neatly summed up the mood: you may not get paid for fundamentals, but they still matter. And in perhaps the most charming flex in the thread, one person proudly said they’re building a Dota 2 match organizer while trying not to let AI write the code for them. In other words: the robots may be here, but people are still weirdly, stubbornly proud of doing it themselves.
Key Points
- •Steve Krouse argues that learning to code is still worthwhile even if it is no longer a reliable shortcut to a six-figure salary.
- •The article says coding should be valued on educational grounds, similar to math, literature, science, and the liberal arts.
- •Krouse cites his own experience learning programming through an after-school program as a path to becoming more engaged with mathematics.
- •The article highlights Seymour Papert’s educational approach and the LOGO programming language as examples of using code to teach math through exploration.
- •Krouse presents coding as both a way to build meta-skills such as debugging and logic and as a form of creative expression that remains relevant despite LLMs.