Solving problems is still the fun part of software development

I love the current state of software development. I care about solving people’s problems, and coding agents make more of the things I want to build feel worth attempting. There is a particular pleasure in getting rid of an awkward workaround that somebody has been putting up with for years. I don’t find that pleasure diminished by having written less of the code myself. Curiositry’s Vibecoding isn’t as fun as writing code by hand describes a different experience. They enjoy making things too, but find that the excitement of generating a first version gives way to a process they don’t much like. The Hacker News discussion is full of people recognising that feeling, alongside others who are having a wonderful time. I believe the people who miss writing code. You cannot refute somebody’s afternoon by showing them your productivity graph. And Curiositry is right that a working version doesn’t automatically give you the understanding or sense of accomplishment you might get from building…