In the ’70s and earlier, when conditions were harsh, the pioneers of computing knew exactly where every bit went. That hardware limitations made compute far more costly.
Just look at this:
🚀 Apollo Guidance Computer (Lunar Module, Moon landing):
~72KB of fixed “core‑rope” memory for program code
~4KB of erasable RAM for variables/scratch space
🛰️ Voyager probes (launched in 1977). Both are still operational and sending telemetry. One of them is now 25 billion kilometers from Earth and it’s still talking to us:
- Command System (CCS): 2KB RAM + ~4KB ROM
- Flight Data Subsystem (FDS): 8KB RAM + ~8KB ROM (science & engineering data)
- Attitude & Articulation Control System (AACS): 2KB RAM + ~8KB ROM (controls orientation)
That’s it. No bloat. No margin for sloppiness. Precision was survival.
Now? Every React component or Node.js package weighs 10KB+. LLMs spit out infinite SELECT loops, store raw or SHA256’d passwords, and somehow… your app still works. Some top investors, like Paul Graham in his recent X post cheer on vibecoders pumping out 10,000 lines a day like that’s the gold standard.
How can you not relax and forget the basics?
I understand why nowadays many of my colleagues are frustrated by “vibe code” and next gen devs skipping the fundamentals. They think the basics are irrelevant now that LLMs can spit out code.
But this cycle isn’t new:
👴 In my (millennial) era “older” devs wrote PHP/Perl/Python engines from scratch, while I was so dummy that could only learning Joomla with its extensions, phpBB and HTML with CSS. “You don’t even know what’s under the hood!” I’d hear.
👴 In the ‘80s, C programmers manually managed memory, scoffing at C++ and OOP as “toys” with “unnecessary abstraction.”
👴 In the ‘60s, assembler veterans mocked FORTRAN and COBOL. “A compiler can’t optimize better than me!”
The cycle repeats.
But here’s what doesn’t change: the foundation. It’s the bedrock. It doesn’t shift with every new framework, hype wave, or trend.
Learn it. Dig deep. Know what you’re building on. That’s how you stop being a consumer and become a creator.
Because if you rely on LLMs without understanding the essence, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
The people pushing “AI will replace you” are selling hype. CEOs, corporations, and investors who preach that you no longer need to learn? They’ll throw your future, your job, even the planet under the bus for a return and control.
They have no ethical brakes.
Think LLMs are like drugs: they give the illusion of power. They make you feel like you’re building something. But in the end, you’ll be left with vibes while they collect your time, your money, your talent.
P.S. Of course, I also use LLM 💊, but only where it actually helps and doesn't hallucinate, overcomplicate (or "simplify" by suggesting rm -rf your-project): small scripts, simple examples, testing and documentation, study help, routine reviews, or fixing spelling in posts like this one. Not for real programming whether it’s a fresh project or some legacy beast.
By the way, hi everyone! This is my first article on Dev.to. More technical posts coming soon, especially on Rust and security. Stay tuned.
Top comments (0)