Everybody Wants to Be a Dev!

Short summary

This essay argues that AI-powered no-code tools won't eliminate developers, drawing parallels to COBOL, 4GLs, SQL, and HyperCard—each promised to democratize programming but instead shifted where expertise was needed. The pattern repeats: new abstractions make prototyping easier but the hard work of production-readiness remains. AI tools like Lovable and v0 follow the same trajectory, lowering the barrier to entry without removing the need for engineering rigor.

• •Historical pattern: every abstraction layer (COBOL, SQL, HyperCard) promised to eliminate developers but instead shifted required expertise
• •AI no-code tools make prototyping fast but hide production-level complexity
• •The developer profession transforms rather than disappears with each wave

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.