Washing Machine powered by AI, Printing Press & a cycle with truck's wheel.
Engineering has really evolved into somthing that is no longer associated with writing softwares. Yes. I said that.
There is a page on instagram where a guy vibecodes all the new-age aswell exisiting companies in a couple of hours.
We all can defend that it is just a prototype or it is not scalable or whatever.
But the truth is, these mvps are way better than the first version of facebook. It has come to a point where agentic development enables you to build a literal OPC (one person company)
Coming back to topic, no software engineering is not dead. It is in the best position I would say and engineering is evolved into a newer dimension where you focus on things that really matter.
What are the things that matter ?
What matters is the ability to think how a decision is going to affect the user.
And most importantly, saying no on behalf of the users.
The biggest problem in today’s world is not building but saying no to a lot of things.
- I don’t need AI in a CRUD app
- I don’t need ML algorithm for a single user app
- I don’t need gigantic infrastructure and microservices for an app which has zero users.
- I don’t need to add “Agentic” in every line I write.
And install a truck’s wheel on a cycle.
Yes, without a doubt AI used to be a differentiator but not anymore. Even my washing machine is powered by AI.
So I Think the engineering efforts should go into craft not bloat. And this is the best time for it.
How do I build?
We have to embrace the new norm.
You don’t have to write code by hand. Agentic development is obviously useful but it is not a replacement for your brain.
I simply take a pen and paper.
- Write a short note on what I’m building and why it needs to exist.
- DB Schema and relationships. How data is stored and why
- API Design. What should talk to the outside world.
And then I start writing.
Personally I like writing code by myself when it comes to backend. I don’t vibe code it. I do use a lot of AI to generate functions and some part of them but I don’t like using an agentic IDE.
But when it comes to frontend, I open Cursor or Antigravity and abuse the token limits.
And even for that I don’t let AI make a form purple for no absolute reason.
So the process is
- Draw wireframes
- Design Something like a storyboard
- Generate component by component instead of pages.
What’s next?
Hundred years after the printing press was invented, the number of books grew enormous. The industry flourished, copywriters vanished.
But,
Authors didn’t vanish,
People valued words over print,
Art grew exponentially
That’s happening rn.