"Code was never the hard part" is an insult to all programmers — Senko Rašić

“Code was never the hard part” is an insult to all programmers<br>August 8, 2026The software development profession is in the midst of upheaval. Nobody knows how the AI revolution will play out in the end, but it is clear many aspects of work and life will be transformed—including programming.

One of the comments I hear often lately boils down to “LLMs may be good at coding, but software was never the hard part” and “coding is easy, it's figuring out what to code that's hard”.

I believe that's a gross insult to all programmers everywhere.

If coding is easy...

If coding is easy, how come programmers were in high demand, and have demanded large salaries for years (even before ZIRP)? Why was there so much stress, overwork and burnout even before AI started churning out 5000-line PRs? Why did companies seek 10x ninja rockstar coders and subject them to leetcode interviews—surely, a junior fresh out of college could churn out something if it's so easy?

If coding is easy, why do we have doorstoppers like Clean Code and The Pragmatic Programmer? Is The Art of Computer Programming a light summer read? Is SICP a coffee-table book? Why do we have bootcamps or even whole college degrees dedicated to it?

If coding is easy, was Carmack just at the right place at the right time? Why do we consider Fabrice Bellard a genius?

If coding is easy, why are people angry at AI (or anyone else) copying their code? Why do they act like they've poured their sweat, soul, and copious amounts of time into something so trivial?

If coding is easy, why do many now feel like their identity and professional purpose are being stripped away from them?

If coding is easy, why is software so damn buggy?

If figuring out what to build is the hard part...

If deciding what to build is the hard part, why do so many product managers seem clueless? Why aren't there rigorous 10-step interviews for them? Why aren't they getting paid more than the developers?

If deciding what to build is the hard part, why aren't market researchers, usability experts and—hell, customer success—considered rockstars in a software company? If “understanding the customer” is harder, why are business analysts looked down on as pencil pushers?

If implementation is easy and finding demand is harder, why are programmers upset when the salespeople promise a new feature to a customer to close the sale? They've found a genuine demand, something people will pay for!

If coding is easy, why doesn't everyone just build ten variations of a thing and see which pans out?

There's no median programmer

Another cliché comment is “most work in software development is talking to stakeholders, understanding the customer's needs, and having clarity on the priorities”.

I have met many programmers throughout my career, and very few of them want to talk to stakeholders, much less customers (exceptions are freelancers and founders, especially of software development shops). And, “having clarity on the priorities” boils down to “just tell me what to do and don't switch it up every two days”.

Some software developers do say “I don't write code, I solve customer's problems”. But then they turn around and start to opine on monads, memory safety, and DRY principles, while their understanding of the customer is a made-up “user persona”, and they think “affordance” is the money your parents used to give you on weekends so you could go out and have a good time.

Yet others will say “Software development is theory building”. Programs are actually proofs (as in, mathematical proofs). Every commit should tell a story. And solving a customer's problem by FTPing a PHP file is a cardinal sin.

I don't mean to imply there are no developers that simultaneously care deeply about the craft of software development and really empathize with the customer. I do believe they might want to see a professional about a split personality disorder, tho.

What is important?

I do believe that talking to users, understanding their experience, empathizing with them, solving customers' problems and having all the stakeholders on the same page is critical to the success of a software project.

I also believe that creating good code is a craft that requires skill, patience, attention to detail, experience and wisdom, and that it will continue to be relevant in the times ahead.

¿Por qué no los dos?

To the extent that we can pull it off, I think we should aim for both. A deep understanding of the system we're building, together with a deep understanding of why we're building it.

Loudly proclaiming that “code is easy” or, at the opposite end, “code is art, a creative human expression that cannot be automated”, is just burying our heads in the sand.

It's cope. And you don't want cope, you want to thrive.

By this, I don't mean “jump on the LLM bandwagon.” I don't mean “become a manager of fleets of AI agents.” I also don't mean “AI-generated...