We maintain an internal java framework, and one of its components requires a configuration file with a simple field: "Timestamp = 09112025000001".

Because this timestamp is persisted in a central database for state management, the developer is forced to manually increment the value after every single test run to avoid collisions. (I know... legacy systems...)

Anyway, a developer called us because they were running into a strange issue with the framework. We jumped on a debugging session, and I asked them to pull up their configuration file.

I fully expected to see a slightly incremented number, maybe 09112025000002, or at worst, a random number to ensure uniqueness. You know, anything numeric.

Instead, the timestamp they had been using was:
Timestamp = 091120250000K

A letter. A single, non-numeric character sitting right there in a field clearly named "Timestamp." I had to blink a few times. I mean, what is the thought process here? Did they hit the wrong key and just decide to commit to it?

The worst part: That wasn't even the root cause of the bug they called us about. But after seeing that config, I had to step away for a mental health break.

We desperately need better input validation, because our "robust" framework apparently accepts a letter as a valid time marker...

I am a student. I like my tech. I am obsessed with it.

And I've studied hard my entire life thinking it was gonna pay off one day.

2021 rolls around. AI gets wild. I'm not threatened, because I understand it's a natural part of technological progress, and hence inevitable.

I am not against it, but I've always held off on using it until I have no other options.

I've been coding ever since 9, since my dad taught me how to mess with variables in Python on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ hooked up to our TV.

I loved it. Still do.

So when AI came along and people started vibe-coding, I understood why - but I kept my distance. I knew it was a tool, but I also knew becoming over-reliant would cost me big-time in terms of my intellectual development.

I'm in college now.

I have a thing for coding manually. I love building stuff from scratch and I'm good at it. When my peers ask me why I dont use ChatGPT, or Claude, or Perplexity, etc, I tell them that it wont help me interview for a job. Because companies test your skill.

Right?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

THOUGHT WRONG DIDNCHA? GET FUCKED LOSER. MUHUHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA.

COMPANIES ARE STARTING TO ALLOW AI IN INTERVIEWS.

YES! BECAUSE WHY WOULD WE ASK EMPLOYEES TO LEARN SHIT WHEN A MACHINE ALREADY KNOWS ALL?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN IF I SPENT YEARS OF MY LIFE PAINSTAKINGLY BUILDING EACH FUNCTION AND METHOD, ONLY FOR THAT TO BE STOLEN BY AN AI WHO CHARGES YOU MONEY FOR EACH QUERY?

FOR THINGS THAT ARE AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ON THE WEB?

I feel lost now. I've looked forward to college all my life.

I've always been mocked for wanting a desk job because people somehow think it is limiting.

But I loved it. Every moment of it. Because it felt _right_.

This was always happiness to me.

I've always been an extroverted kid with no friends. Don't ask how. I just don't have the humor that people find attractive.

This was my life. This was something I was good at.

And now an algorithm does it all.

A business major who can't even change his screen brightness now has the audacity to mock my work because his LLM can do more than mine.

Fuck y'all. I still love this. I've been doing this all my life, and I'll keep doing it.

And if one of you uneducated, uncultured, smooth-brained fucks remind me ONE MORE TIME that you can "code" better than me just because you can type into a textbox, then BEST BELIEVE I will go Dark Souls on your ass.

I've finally been rejected today for a job that I applied to roughly 10 months ago.

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I wonder if the backend will be pushed to the git repo today by the senior dev or if it will be possible to run locally.