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A post shared on Hacker News argues that changing economics around AI-assisted coding do not make programming less worthwhile as a personal interest. Its author describes learning game programming and studying difficult concepts for enjoyment, while also saying AI-assisted “vibe-coding” can be fun in a different way.
A post published on October 17, 2026 and shared on Hacker News argues that programming remains worth doing for enjoyment, even as AI tools change the economics of writing code at work. The author describes building a rough Breakout-style game and studying programming concepts in personal time, saying these activities need no business or career justification.
The author says they are learning game programming and have made a buggy Breakout clone with poor collision detection. They choose to write it by hand because they enjoy working through the problems, not because the result is commercially useful or difficult for an AI system to produce. The post says the possibility that Claude could generate the game in one attempt does not undermine the appeal of making it themselves.
The author also describes using weekends to explore ideas outside the game project. One recent session involved trying to bring ideas from dependently typed languages such as Agda into Java to explore type safety. Another involved recursion schemes, which the writer says were difficult and whose practical value is not yet clear to them. The post presents both activities as worthwhile explorations, even without a known application.
The writer also draws a distinction between hand-written programming and “vibe-coding”, which they say they enjoy too. They report having a suite of apps made this way without having examined their code. The post does not describe those apps or provide technical details, but it frames AI-assisted creation as a different kind of pleasure rather than a replacement for every reason to program.
A personal case for curiosity · Hacker News
It’s Still OK to Enjoy Programming
AI is changing how code gets made at work. One programmer’s reminder: a hobby does not need a business case. Hand-writing code, exploring hard ideas, and building with AI can each be rewarding in their own way.
01 / What the author does
Curiosity is enough reason
The examples are ordinary personal experiments, not a career strategy or a claim about what everyone should do. Their value is that they are interesting to the person doing them.
A rough Breakout clone
The author is learning game programming and has made a buggy version with imperfect collision detection. Working through the problems is part of the appeal.
Agda ideas in Java
One weekend session explored how ideas from dependently typed languages such as Agda might help investigate type safety in Java.
Learn before knowing why
The writer also studied recursion schemes, finding them difficult without knowing whether they will have a practical use. The exploration still felt worthwhile.
“It’s still OK to enjoy programming.”
— The post’s author“I write it by hand because I enjoy it.”
— The post’s author02 / Two kinds of pleasure
Different approaches, different rewards
The post does not frame hand-written code and AI-assisted creation as an either-or choice. The author says they enjoy both, for different reasons.
Writing code by hand
Enjoy the challenge of solving problems, improving a rough project, and building understanding along the way. Commercial usefulness is not required.
Vibe-coding with AI
Enjoy making things with AI assistance. The author says they have a suite of apps made this way without examining the code, but provides no technical details about those apps.
Pick a project or concept that catches your interest.
Write code yourself, use AI, or move between both.
Work through a challenge without demanding a payoff.
Let personal meaning stand apart from workplace value.
03 / What this does—and doesn’t—say
A personal reply, not an industry forecast
The author responds to pessimism they encountered while reading Hacker News and argues that professional incentives and personal enjoyment are separate questions. A task’s market value does not decide whether someone can find it satisfying as a hobby.
The post acknowledges that AI has changed the economics of hand-written code at work. It does not claim that software jobs are unaffected, or that every programmer should work by hand. It offers one person’s experience, not a measure of how programmers generally feel.
04 / Questions readers may ask
What the post can tell us
The essay makes a modest point about personal meaning. It does not settle wider questions about work, employment, or the future of software development.
What is the argument?
Programming can be enjoyable for its own sake, even as AI changes how code is produced or valued in paid work.
Does the author reject AI tools?
No. The author says vibe-coding is fun too, though it offers a different kind of pleasure.
Is this research?
No. It is a personal essay about the author’s experiences and opinions, not a study or industry survey.
Does it show AI has not changed jobs?
No. It offers no employment data or broad analysis of AI’s effects on professional coding work.
05 / Limits and takeaway
Keep the claim in perspective
The value of the post is the distinction it invites readers to make: paid work and personal projects can be guided by different incentives.
- It is one programmer’s account; how widespread the pressure they describe may be is unknown.
- It offers no employment data, industry survey, or comparison of professional coding work.
- The practical value of the author’s experiments remains uncertain, by their own account.
- No product release, research milestone, or scheduled follow-up is announced.
Enjoyment Beyond Paid Coding
The post speaks to a debate about how generative AI affects programming: if a tool can produce working code quickly, some people may question the value of learning or writing software by hand. The author’s argument is that workplace economics and personal enjoyment are separate questions. A task’s market value does not determine whether someone can find it satisfying as a hobby.
That distinction matters to readers who program outside their jobs, are learning to code, or feel pressure to keep up with new tools. The post does not claim that AI has no effect on software employment or professional practice. Instead, it offers a personal counterexample to the idea that faster code generation makes the activity itself pointless: the author says they enjoy the effort, exploration and gradual understanding.
It also avoids treating manual coding and AI-assisted coding as an either-or choice. The writer says both approaches can be enjoyable, though in different ways. That is a personal view, not evidence that all programmers will respond similarly or that the broader effects of AI on work have been settled.
mechanical keyboard for programming
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A Personal Reply to Online Pessimism
The post opens by referring to the tone the author encountered while reading Hacker News, which they describe as making them feel that they needed to defend the idea of enjoying programming. They characterize online discussion as capable of spreading pessimism, but do not cite a survey, specific thread or measure of how widespread that attitude is.
The piece is a personal essay, not a report on a new programming product, study or policy. Its examples are the writer’s own: a developing Breakout clone, experiments with Java type safety, and reading about recursion schemes. The author says some concepts may eventually prove useful at work, but that future utility is uncertain and was not the reason for studying them.
The post’s central point is deliberately limited: people may pursue programming without an economic payoff. It does not argue that professional software development is unchanged, or that every hobbyist should work by hand. The author acknowledges that business incentives around hand-written code have changed while maintaining that paid work is not the only setting in which programming has meaning.
““It’s still OK to enjoy programming.””
— The post’s author
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Limits of One Programmer’s View
The post is a personal account, and it does not establish how widespread the feeling of pressure around AI and programming may be. It provides no employment data, industry survey or comparison of how AI tools affect the time and value of professional coding work.
It is also unclear whether the author’s experiments with type safety or recursion schemes will lead to practical applications. The writer says they may become useful later, but stresses that immediate utility is not the reason for exploring them. The post describes the author’s own enjoyment; it cannot establish that other programmers find hand-written or AI-assisted coding equally rewarding.
dependently typed language programming book
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No Formal Follow-Up Announced
The post announces no scheduled next step, product release or research milestone. Its examples remain ongoing personal projects: the author is learning game programming, exploring programming ideas and using AI-assisted coding for other apps.
For readers, the practical takeaway is not a prediction about the future of software work but a distinction they can apply now: professional incentives may shape how code is produced on the job, while personal projects can be pursued for challenge, curiosity or enjoyment. Whether that view resonates with others is not measured in the post.
Source: Hacker News
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Key Questions
What is the post arguing?
It argues that programming can be enjoyable for its own sake, even if AI changes how code is produced or valued in paid work.
What personal projects does the author describe?
The author says they are learning game programming through a buggy Breakout clone and have used personal time to explore type safety in Java and recursion schemes.
Does the author reject AI coding tools?
No. The author says they also enjoy “vibe-coding” and describes it as fun in a different way from writing code by hand.
Does the post show that AI has not changed programming jobs?
No. The author acknowledges that AI has changed the economics of hand-written code at work, but offers no employment data or broader analysis of its effects.
Is the post based on research?
No. It is a personal essay describing the author’s experiences and opinions, not a study of programmers or the software industry.
Source: Hacker News
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