Is It Worth Becoming a Software Developer in 2025?
This post is an honest conversation about how the development market has changed, what AI really means for programmers, and why 2025 might be the best year to enter the field, if you're willing to do the real work.
The AI Apocalypse
Every time a new AI model is released, Twitter explodes with the same talk. "It's over for programmers." "AI will replace developers." "I chose the wrong career." And then the next model comes out, and the cycle repeats. Again. And again. And again.
It won't happen. Not now, not anytime soon.
AIs are light-years away from replacing programmers. They're incredible at generating boilerplate code, helping with syntax, and even suggesting solutions to common problems. But replacing a developer? That requires understanding business context, making architectural decisions, debugging complex problems, communicating with stakeholders, and having that intuition of when something doesn't feel right in the code.
But, AIs have drastically changed the minimum standard required to enter the market.
The New Elevated Standard
Remember 2019? Good times. You learned basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, made a portfolio with three projects copied from YouTube tutorials, and got a junior position.
2025? Forget it.
That basic knowledge is no longer enough even for a decent internship. And before you think "that's terrible!", let me tell you: this is great.
Why? Because AI has raised the bar, and this has created a massive opportunity for those willing to go beyond the basics.
Nowadays, the average developer, the one who learned the bare minimum and stopped there, is struggling. They know React, but only the basics. They use TypeScript, but don't really understand why. They copy solutions from LLMs without understanding why they work.
AI can do that too. So what's that developer's value?
The Hidden Opportunity
In 2025, the space for those who truly dedicate themselves to specializing in an area is gigantic.
When you truly understand a domain — whether it's web performance, systems architecture, accessibility, security, complex animations, state management, or any other area — you become valuable. Very valuable.
AI can generate code. But it cannot:
- Design a scalable architecture that will support your product for the next 5 years
- Debug a performance issue that only happens in production with 10,000 simultaneous users
- Understand the trade-offs between different solutions in your business context
- Make decisions that balance development speed, maintainability, and user experience
This requires deep knowledge. Experience. Intuition. Things you only develop when you truly dedicate yourself to understanding an area for real.
Soft Skills
Here's a statistic I made up but know is true because I live it.
70% of the developers I interview have enough technical knowledge to work as a junior. Maybe 20% have the necessary soft skills.
You can be a coding genius. You can know 15 frameworks and 8 programming languages. But if you can't communicate your ideas clearly, work well in a team, or receive feedback without getting defensive, you're going to struggle. A lot. If you don't know how to explain technical concepts to non-technical people, manage your own time and priorities, ask the right questions, or admit when you don't know something, technical knowledge alone won't save you.
And this is another giant opportunity. Because while everyone is obsessed with learning the newest framework, almost no one is investing in improving their interpersonal skills. Everyone wants to be the developer who solves everything alone, but companies need people who know how to work as a team.
Be the developer who really listens before proposing solutions. Who documents their code clearly because they know other people will read it. Who gives constructive code reviews instead of pointing fingers at others' mistakes. Who onboards new members effectively. Who proactively communicates problems and blockers before they become crises. Who collaborates instead of competing with teammates.
That developer is worth gold in the market.
The Experience Myth
"How will I get into software development if no one hires someone without experience?"
I understand the frustration. Really. But the inconvenient truth is that you can create your own experience. Building projects. Solving problems. Learning by doing.
"But I don't have ideas for projects!"
You don't need to invent the next Instagram. Do simple things:
- A password manager
- A simple browser game
- A simplified copy of a social network
- An API to manage a library
- A dashboard with charts and visualizations
- A browser extension that solves one of your problems
- A command-line tool that automates something boring
The project itself is almost irrelevant. What matters is that you did it from start to finish, that you can explain the decisions you made, that you faced real problems and solved them, and that the code is on GitHub, documented, with a decent README.
This is experience. You thought about architecture. You made design decisions. You debugged problems. You learned something new when you faced an obstacle.
A person with 5 well-done personal projects demonstrates more capability than someone with "1 year of experience" who spent that time doing the bare minimum.
Conclusion
2025 is a great year to be a developer. But it's a terrible year to be a mediocre developer.
AI has raised the standard. Competition has increased. Expectations are higher.
But for those willing to do the real work, learn deeply, communicate well, constantly build things, and care about quality, the doors are wide open.
The market isn't saturated with good developers. It's saturated with mediocre developers who think they're good.
Be truly good. The rest is a consequence.