Learning Programming in an Age of LLMs

The author, lacking a formal CS background, built a large TypeScript/JavaScript system with APIs, PostgreSQL, LLM pipelines, and multi-model workflows using AI-assisted programming. This experience, which felt magical, allowed the author to bridge the gap between an idea and its implementation. The author notes that their method of learning new programming languages by perusing existing code and looking up unclear elements is not applicable to new programmers in 2026.