Is learning to code still worth it in 2025 when AI can write it?
Is learning to code still worth it in 2025 when AI assistants like GitHub Copilot can generate entire functions from a plain-English prompt? I've been a backend developer for seven years, and I use these tools daily—they're genuinely impressive at boilerplate and even some tricky algorithms. But every time Copilot suggests something, I have to actually understand the logic to debug it, especially when edge cases appear. Last month it wrote a regex that looked perfect but silently failed on Unicode input, and I only caught it because I knew what to look for. So I wonder: if a beginner relies on AI without building that foundational comprehension, are they setting themselves up for a career where they're constantly fighting code they don't really understand? Or is the skill of prompt engineering and quick debugging enough to thrive in this new landscape?