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Cursor, the native AI code editor, recently reported that he writes nearly a billion lines of code daily. That’s a billion lines of production-quality code accepted by users every day. If we generously assume that a competent engineer writes a thousand lines of code per day, Cursor does the equivalent work of a million developers. (For context, when working at Pinterest and Meta, I typically write less than 100 lines of code per day.)
There are only about 25 million software developers in the world! Naively, it seems like Cursor is making a significant percentage of coders obsolete.
This begs the question: is it still worth learning to code?
The answer is a resounding “yes”. The fear-based slider analysis above misses several important points.
First, the demand for software is insatiable. Getting a computer to correctly follow our instructions (i.e., code) is economically extremely valuable. However, for decades, the number of people with the specialized skills needed to communicate with computers has been limited. If AI tools allow us to write more functional code, many more people, businesses, and industries will benefit. As Marc Andreesen alluded to in his 2011 essay “Why Software is Eating the World,” the demand for software is elastic. As software becomes cheaper, we see a disproportionate increase in demand.
There is no such thing as finishing a software project. Humans are very good at demanding more from products and services, and software will inevitably play a role in that future.
Another critical observation is that AI-assisted code is simply a continuation of the evolution of software development. In the 1970s we programmed with punch cards. Then we started writing low-level code with a keyboard. Then we moved to higher level languages. Each successive era has seen a large increase in the number of software engineers while simultaneously improving the productivity of each person. We’ve seen this scenario before: AI is just another tool to give us superpowers.
Coding tools like Cursor or Devin are less about replacing software engineers and more about increasing the number of software engineers. In the future, writing code will no longer be limited to those with a particular title; everyone, including lawyers, accountants, and doctors, will develop software. Cursor will not replace the 25 million software engineers we have today. Instead, it will create millions more.
—Rahoul
IEEE SpectrumThe annual ranking of the best programming languages is here, and it may be the last. Coders are now turning away from many public expressions of interest in different languages (like Google searches and Stack Exchange queries), which have served as key metrics for ranking since 2013. What does the move toward AI coding tools mean for the future of programming and how do we track the coding landscape?
Learn more here.
Also in the area of how AI is affecting programming: the Stanford Digital Economy Lab released a report revealing early evidence that employment has been hit hard by younger workers in occupations that use generative AI the most, including software engineering. The report used data from the largest payroll provider in the United States, ADP, to obtain up-to-date employment and income data for millions of workers.
Learn more here.
The Trump administration recently issued an executive order adding a $100,000 fee to new H-1B visa applications. Large tech companies like Amazon are among the largest H-1B employers, but some higher education positions could also be affected. Inside higher education reports on which institutions have the largest number of these visas and how they compare to other sectors.
Learn more here.
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