Is Source Code Going Away?

Will AI code generation make writing source code obsolete for engineers

As AI code generation tools mature, the question isn't whether machines will write code—it's whether humans will need to read and reason about source code at all. Beck explores what gets lost if code becomes a machine-to-machine artifact rather than a medium for human communication and understanding.

Read full essay on Substack ↗

Questions this essay answers

  • What happens to software engineering when source code becomes primarily machine-generated?
  • How does the role of the programmer change if we stop writing code by hand?
  • What aspects of software design and reasoning depend on humans reading and writing code?
← All essays