DEV Community: Akanksha Sharma

AI Isn’t Killing Tech Jobs. But It Is Changing Who Gets Hired. 🤖

Akanksha Sharma — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:37:11 +0000

If you don't want to read the whole thing, here's the short version:

Yes, AI is affecting the tech industry.

But I don't think the story is simply:

“AI will replace developers.”

I think the bigger story is:

AI is changing what companies expect from developers.

And honestly, that shift has already started.

AI can generate code, explain errors, write unit tests, create documentation, refactor functions, analyze logs and automate repetitive development tasks.

A task that might once have taken an hour can sometimes take 15 minutes with the right AI tools.

And yes, that can affect hiring.

If a smaller team can deliver the same amount of work because every developer is more productive, companies may need fewer people for certain types of work.

That's the part we shouldn't ignore.

But software engineering isn't just typing code.

AI can generate code. Engineering is more than code.

Imagine you're building a payment system.

AI can help you write an API endpoint.

It can generate a database query.

It can suggest error handling.

It can even write tests.

But who decides:

Should the API be REST or event-driven?
How should authentication work?
What happens if the payment succeeds but the database update fails?
How do we prevent duplicate transactions?
What data should be logged?
How should sensitive information be protected?
Will this architecture scale when traffic increases?

Those aren't simply code-generation problems.

They're engineering problems.

AI can suggest solutions, but developers still need to understand the trade-offs and validate those solutions.

AI can generate code. But code isn't the same thing as engineering.

AI is changing the development workflow

Think about a typical development cycle.

Before AI, a developer might:

Requirement → Research → Code → Debug → Test → Review → Deploy

With AI assistance, parts of that workflow can become:

Requirement → AI-assisted research → Generate → Review → Test → Debug → Deploy

The difference is important.

The developer's job doesn't necessarily disappear.

The developer's time shifts toward higher-value decisions.

Instead of spending 30 minutes writing boilerplate, you might spend that time reviewing architecture.

Instead of manually writing every test case, you might use AI to generate a starting point and then verify edge cases yourself.

Instead of searching through documentation for every small syntax issue, you can ask AI for an explanation and validate it against the actual documentation.

That's productivity.

But there's an important catch.

AI can also create problems faster

If you don't understand the code AI generates, you're essentially turning your lack of understanding into technical debt.

AI-generated code can contain:

Logic errors
Security vulnerabilities
Poor database queries
Incorrect assumptions
Unnecessary dependencies
Performance problems
Outdated APIs

And sometimes the code looks perfectly reasonable.

That's what makes it dangerous.

A developer who understands the fundamentals can ask:

“Why did AI choose this approach?”

A developer who doesn't may simply ask:

“Does this code run?”

Those are very different questions.

And that's why fundamentals such as data structures, algorithms, databases, networking, system design, security and debugging still matter.

Possibly more than before.

The developer skill set is changing

The valuable skill isn't simply:

“I can write JavaScript.”

It's becoming:

“I can use JavaScript, understand the system I'm building and use AI to solve problems more efficiently.”

For example, knowing React is useful.

But understanding:

component architecture
state management
rendering behavior
API communication
performance
accessibility
security
testing

is much harder to replace with a code generator.

The same applies to backend development.

Knowing how to generate an Express or FastAPI endpoint is useful.

Understanding authentication, authorization, database indexing, caching, concurrency, API design, observability and scalability is much more valuable.

AI can help you learn and implement these concepts.

But it doesn't remove the need to understand them.

So who is actually at risk?

Probably not simply “developers.”

The bigger risk is for developers whose work consists largely of predictable, repetitive tasks and who don't expand their skill set as the tools around them improve.

And this creates an interesting situation for entry-level developers.

Junior developers traditionally learn by working on smaller tasks:

Fix this bug.
Build this component.
Write this API.
Add this validation.

AI can increasingly assist with many of those tasks.

So beginners may need to differentiate themselves through something beyond simply being able to produce code.

Problem-solving.

Debugging.

Understanding systems.

Communication.

Learning quickly.

And most importantly:

Knowing why the code works, not just how to generate it.

So, what should developers do?

Don't panic.

Don't blindly trust AI.

And don't ignore it either.

Instead:

Strengthen your fundamentals.

Use AI for repetitive work and exploration.

Learn to review AI generated code critically.

Understand security and performance implications.

Get better at debugging.

Learn system design and architecture.

And build projects where you can explain every major technical decision you made.

Because the future probably isn't:

AI vs Developers

It's more likely:

Developers who use AI vs developers who don't.

But there's an even bigger distinction:

Developers who understand what AI generates vs developers who simply copy it.

So maybe the question isn't:

“Will AI take my job?”

Maybe the better question is:

“If AI makes my current skills cheaper, what valuable skills should I build next?”

Because the developers who can combine strong fundamentals + engineering judgment + AI tools may end up being the most valuable ones.

And now I'm curious:

Do you think AI will mostly reduce junior jobs, senior jobs or change both? 👇

I Blamed React for 45 Minutes. The Bug Was One return. 😭

Akanksha Sharma — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 15:19:52 +0000

There are two types of Developers:

People who write clean, predictable code.
People who add console.log() until the browser starts feeling like a crime scene.

I am, unfortunately, Team #2. 🫠

And this story is about the time I spent 45 minutes debugging React only to discover that JavaScript was waiting for me to type one tiny word.

return

It started innocently enough...

I had a React component fetching data from an API and displaying it on the page.

Pretty normal stuff.

The API was working. ✅
The data was coming back. ✅
The component was rendering. ✅

The UI?
Nothing.

Just an empty page.
Beautiful.
Minimalist.
Very intentional-looking.
Definitely not broken.🙂

So obviously, I started investigating.

First thought:

“Maybe the API isn't working.”
Checked it.
Working.

Then:

“Maybe the state isn't updating.”
Checked it.
Working.

Then:

“Maybe something is wrong with the component.”
Checked it.
Also working.

At this point, I reached the most logical conclusion:

React is broken.

Obviously.

So I did what every experienced developer does when they have absolutely no idea what's happening:

console.log("Component rendered");
console.log("API called");
console.log("Data received:", data);
console.log("Users:", users);
console.log("WHY IS THIS EMPTY???");

My console was slowly becoming a conversation with myself.

Then I found the crime scene.

This was the code:

{users.map(user => {
  <div key={user.id}>
    <h3>{user.name}</h3>
  </div>
})}

I stared at it.
It looked fine.

I stared at it again.
Still fine.

Then I noticed it.

There was no return.😭

The problem wasn't React.
The problem wasn't the API.
The problem wasn't my state.

The problem was...

"ME"

When you use curly braces with an arrow function, you need an explicit return.

So instead of:

{users.map(user => {
  <div key={user.id}>
    <h3>{user.name}</h3>
  </div>
})}

I needed:

{users.map(user => (
  <div key={user.id}>
    <h3>{user.name}</h3>
  </div>
))}

And just like that...

THE UI APPEARED.

I genuinely sat there for a few seconds thinking:
“You have got to be kidding me.”

45 minutes.

Forty.

Five.

Minutes.

I had checked the API.
I had checked the state.
I had checked the component.

I had added enough console.log() statements to qualify as a documentary.

I was mentally preparing to rewrite the entire component.

Meanwhile, JavaScript was basically sitting there like:
“You forgot to return the thing.”

Fair enough.

My highly sophisticated debugging methodology

Minute 1:
“This should work.”

Minute 5:
“Maybe it's the API.”

Minute 10:
“Let's check the state.”

Minute 15:
“Let me add a console.log().”

Minute 20:
“Okay, another one.”

Minute 30:
“Why is React doing this to me?”

Minute 40:
“Maybe I'll just rewrite the component.”

Minute 45:
“Oh.”

return. 😭

The actual lesson

The funny thing is, this wasn't some complicated React bug.
I didn't discover some hidden rendering issue.
I didn't need a fancy debugging tool.
I just missed one tiny JavaScript rule.

And honestly, that's probably one of the most annoying things about debugging:

The longer you stare at a bug, the harder it can become to see the obvious.

Sometimes the problem is genuinely complicated.

And sometimes you've spent 45 minutes investigating your entire application because you forgot one word.

So now, before I start blaming React, I'm trying to go through the boring checklist first:

Is the component rendering?
Is the data actually there?
Is the state updating?
Is my .map() returning something?
Did I spell the variable correctly?
Did I accidentally comment something out?
Did I, in fact, forget something incredibly obvious? 👀

Because apparently, that's a real debugging step now.

And yes, I still use console.log().

I'm not going to pretend this experience magically turned me into a debugging expert.

The next time something breaks, I'll probably still do:

console.log("HERE");
console.log("HERE 2");
console.log("HERE 3");

And then I'll stare at the screen.
And refresh.
And refresh again.
And blame React.

But maybe...

I'll check the return first. 😂

Your turn 👇

What's the stupidest bug you've spent way too long debugging?

The kind where you finally find the problem and just sit there thinking:

“...I cannot believe I just did that.”

Please tell me I'm not alone. 😭

First Post on DEV 🚀

Akanksha Sharma — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:27:14 +0000

Hello, DEV Community! 👋

After spending a lot of time learning, building, breaking things, fixing them and occasionally wondering “Why is this not working? ” 😅 -I finally decided to make my first post here.

I’m a Software Engineer and my journey so far has taught me something important:

Software engineering isn’t just about writing code.

• It’s about solving problems when there’s no obvious answer.
• It’s about debugging something you were sure was working.
• It’s about making mistakes, learning from them and trying again.

And sometimes, it’s simply about figuring things out one step at a time. 💻

I’ve had my share of challenges, unexpected bugs, learning curves and those small wins that make all the frustration worth it.

From now on, I want to share more of that journey here -not just the final results, but the problems behind them, the mistakes, the solutions and the lessons learned along the way.

No “I know everything” posts.

Just learning, building, experimenting and growing in public.🌱

What’s one lesson software engineering has taught you that you wish you knew when you started?