Why to learn full stack and do leetcode as an entry level engineer?

The idea that coding or programming will become obsolete is not accurate. Technology continues to advance, creating new opportunities and challenges. While some aspects of coding may become automated or simplified, the need for skilled programmers remains vital for innovation, problem-solving, and creating new applications.

Leetcode and other similar platforms help develop problem-solving skills and improve algorithmic thinking, crucial for software engineering roles. These skills go beyond just coding and are valuable in various tech-related fields.

The future of programming may witness more automation in certain tasks, but it also opens up avenues for programmers to focus on higher-level tasks, innovation, AI, machine learning, and software architecture, where human creativity and expertise are indispensable.

Continuing to learn, adapt, and acquire new skills is key in the ever-evolving tech industry, ensuring one stays competitive and relevant in the job market.

The above response was generated from ChatGPT. Given how the tool everyone's hyping to replace programmers isn't at the point where it's self-aware to generate a response saying that AI will replace all and to prepare for Terminator to become real, I think we're a bit far away from coding/programmers being replaced. Until the day AI hits sentience, if your goal is to get a higher quality programming job then you have to put in the time. If you're taking this from a more existential angle of "I'm wasting my life trying to grind for an entry level job", perhaps it might be more appropriate to treat that as a sign of burnout at the very least.

Don't listen to the AI doomsayers - They're just saying stupid stuff for clicks.

It may not seem like it, but I love being lazy. I have tried many, many times to outsource what I do to ChatGPT and other AI tools. It has failed absolutely miserably for any task with an ounce of complexity, even coding ones. Even for an entry-level engineer [E3] at Meta, I wouldn't be comfortable outsourcing >50% of their job to AI, let alone an E4, E5, or E6. And keep in mind that OpenAI was founded in 2015, ChatGPT came out over a year ago, and OpenAI has an army of brilliant engineers being paid $500k+ working on this. If after all these resources being spent, ChatGPT still cannot mimic a mediocre E3 ripe for a PIP, I'm not worried at all.

If you're worried that AI can replace what you do as a software engineer, you probably aren't a good enough software engineer. In oversimplified terms, the solution is to "git gud", which is literally the point of Taro 😉💪.

So how do you "git gud"? Well, you can start with this playlist and go from there to the many linked resources: [Taro Top 10] Becoming A Better Coder

(Also, you have to do LeetCode because Big Tech and many other companies think DSA is good for interviews, which it really isn't, but that's just the way it is)

The good news is that a lot of companies, especially startups, don't really ask LeetCode so its importance is slowly dying out, especially in this market where most Big Tech isn't hiring.

If you don't need to do LeetCode, don't do it. Not because of AI but because it's stupid and doesn't make you a better engineer.