Let me ask you something. What are you supposed to learn when the CEOs of all AI companies keep claiming that programming will be dead in a few years?
If you were starting college this year, wouldn't you be worried about spending years mastering a skill that might become obsolete by the time you graduate?
I was.
Actually, I was worried even before AI models got this good.
I was afraid to choose game development, even though I liked it, because there seemed to be fewer opportunities than in app development. I was afraid to choose app development because there seemed to be fewer jobs than in web development. And I was afraid to choose web development because ChatGPT told me it was one of the areas of software engineering most vulnerable to AI automation.
I'm ashamed to admit. But that's how I ended up looking into embedded systems. I kept jumping from one field to another, hoping to find the right one before it was too late.
But how do you chase a moving target when every step toward it feels like a step away from everything you've built?
That's one thing. But imagine knowing (or thinking, to be precise) that programming itself, as we know it, could become obsolete within just a few years. I dont know much about AI, so I cannot reliabily decide whether everyone else who knows about AI is right or wrong.
However, I cannot sit there and wait for the future to arrive so I can start learning. I had to make my bet. But how?
I wanted some help. So I posted this on DEV.to:
Graduating in 2030: Is learning C worth it? Honestly?
@francistrdev was one of the first people to comment. Here is what he said:
Here is what I learn overtime. Start building.
You can learn any language you want, but at the end of the day, you are learning the structure of the hammer, not how to use it.
Build projects in various language and choose the ones you like and stick to it. If my ideal language for full stack development is Next.js, learn next.js.
Ignore the market for now since it's VERY volatile and things can change. Maybe one day Python is the most in demand then it's JavaScript the next.
Overall, specialize specialize specialize. Regardless of demand, the market always look for a person who specialize in something over the person that uses the language since it's "demanding".
So I did.
I stopped right where I was standing - embedded systems development using ESP32 microcontrollers and the native ESP-IDF framework. I was right on the verge of leaving ESP32 and going for STM32 because I thought it was more industry-relevant in my area. But that plan was temporarily cancelled (though I might revisit STM32 in the future as a side skill) because he asked me to specialize rather than be the person who uses what's "demanding".
But about the "start building projects" part, that was something I had trouble with. I had several project ideas related to general software engineering (and I still have so many just sitting around), but never embedded systems engineering. So what did I build?
I built a fully free embedded systems course focusing on the ESP-IDF framework, teaching the basics of embedded systems development. The course has a very specific goal: to learn to work with AI.
Even though @francistrdev was the first to comment, several other people, like @fm @unitbuilds @build996 @aniruddhaadak @elanatframework and a few others gave me extremely valuable advices. My course is based on the average opinion of all the comments. I saw 2 opposite viewpoints and everything in between, so I couldn't do anything but go with a middle ground.
And remember that I had trouble coming up with projects related to embedded systems? But that's no longer the case! I don't know if it's because I built that course, but I started getting ideas once I finished the "Basics" section! π I will be posting here once I complete it. I am waiting for the hardware delivery! I am sure others will like it π
So, here is the link to the course if you want to take a look:
Iβll be posting more about the course here soon! In the meantime, please read the chapters and share your thoughts and suggestions. Let me know if you spot any mistakes or think something could be improved. Your feedback and suggestions are what inspired me to create this course in the first place!
Hope you enjoyed the story! Thanks for reading! π
Top comments (22)
Glad you stopped where you were standing β the "start building" advice is the right one, and building a course to learn is honestly the fastest way to find out what you don't know yet.
One thing I'd add for when the job hunt starts: employers don't hire the market-chaser either. They ask "show me what you've done." A course you built is already good proof. Keep pairing it with graded, documented work β for example, simulated shifts on getonthejob.com put you through real tickets and incidents, graded like a real job, and each one builds a verifiable work record. It turns the story from "I studied" into "here's the work." No IT certification needed to start building that record; first shift is free.
It's free? π² I will definitely try it!
Yep, the first shift is free. No cert or experience needed to start. It works like a real shift: you get handed realistic tickets and incidents, your work gets graded the way a real job would grade it, and each shift builds into a verifiable work record you can show employers. Do one and see how the work feels. Write it up afterward and you will have proof of real work to talk about in interviews too.
Oh, no embedded systems jobs? That's unfortunate π’
Ha, fair question. Our shifts are IT and cybersecurity roles (help desk, sysadmin, SOC analyst kind of thing), not embedded. But the embedded world rewards the exact same thing: proof you can build and fix real stuff. Those ESP32 deep-dives, and how you write up what broke? That is precisely what gets an embedded engineer hired. Keep doing that, it is working. If you ever want to add an adjacent track, the first shift is free.
That's the right mindset, stop following trends and start setting them! In the end, we are all in the same job market, if you track the trend and chase it, you're in the heap of it... Alongside people who've done it for 10+ years... Instead, focus on what you like and push for it, cuz that specialty is exactly what sets you apart from the crowd and is the only thing that has you waking up at 8am for work, happy to go to your job. Might not be the first job that pops up, but will be the one that keeps you in a niche for years to come. In my case, it was the fascination designing a baremetal OS, nobody did it, so eventually, after 6 years of ERP development, I finally am doing what I always felt was my dream job. So dont settle for less than what can wake you up happily in the morning, cuz anything less will be too little in time. Set a niche, strive for it, drive for it, so you do what you want and get paid while doing it!
1000% agreed! π―π ΎοΈ π
It's so good to see you again! So you got the job?! That's awesome! Congratulations ππ
Nope, Wasmer decided to 'not continue with my interviewing', after I had to postpone the final review due to work stuff (just cuz I left my job, doesnt mean I dont work, I still have private clients for Doccit). So I sat for a bit, thought to myself... Why work a job, when I already have the products, I already have the company, all I need to do is put the 2 together and actually focus. So the current gameplan is UnitBuilds CC will be entering the market with it's products. In hindsight it's actually quite silly if I think about it, I'm sitting on an autonomous accounting suite and a full-fledged IDE, yet I'm looking for a job? Most companies start off with a hell of a lot less than that, so why am I job-chasing, trying to take the 'safe' route, as opposed to trusting my own work and just learning the 1% that I dont currently know, the marketing side. I mean it's the only way I can actually REALLY experiment and actually turn ideas into creations for a living, without needing to wake up to a 7:30am alarm or get scared of being fired when my boss gets greedy. I wake up when I want, work as late as I want and build exactly what I want and feel like at the time. Currently still taking it slow, cuz my fiance's mother and brother came to visit, but the goal is to actually push my own company, not degrade all my hard work to a portfolio booster.
That's better than getting a job of you can pull it off imo. You have my full support! Curious how you are going to monetize...
"I kept jumping from one field to another, hoping to find the right one before it was too late." That sentence is the whole trap. Your subconscious decides what you notice through a filter called the RAS, and when it's been fed a steady diet of "this path dies soon," it gets very good at surfacing threats and terrible at surfacing openings. So every new skill starts to feel like a countdown instead of a craft. Stopping on ESP32 and building the course was new data going in. The filter does not update because you picked the "safest" market. It updates because you took action in one room long enough for it to stop reading that room as a threat.
Specialize is good advice for the skills. Keep feeding the filter outside code too. Genuine compliment to a stranger. When that is easy, add a bit of conversation. Does not matter how it lands. The action is the win. When one room gets easy, find a harder one. Looking forward to the hardware arriving.
Thank you so much! I will make sure not to fall into the same trap again π
"Learning the structure of the hammer, not how to use it" β great line from Francis.
Picking ESP32 and actually going deep is the right call. Depth also makes your story easier to tell later β "I built X on ESP-IDF and here's what broke" is far more memorable to an interviewer than "I know a bit of everything."
Good luck when the hardware arrives β post the first project!
Thanks so much π Yeah, Francis is always down to help.
I think it's less about chasing every new trend and more about how seriously you commit to something you believe in. the market will keep changing, but there's something to learn from people who keep building anyway instead of constantly jumping ship because of the next big thing.
Yes! Otherwise we'll end up with nothing.
Genuinely, the most hard thing of making it big in tech for beginners in today's AI-driven world, is just starting ....π₯²ππ
The starting part is the hardest because it feels like one giant decision. It is not. The only decision that matters right now is picking the first small thing and doing it this week.
If you are drawn to IT work, the most practical first step I know is a realistic simulated shift. You get handed actual tickets and incidents, your work gets graded the way a real job would grade it, and each shift builds into a verifiable work record you can show employers. No IT certification needed to start, and the first shift is free. Starting stops being scary once you have real work in front of you instead of a roadmap in your head.
That's true... π₯²
Someone once said "no knowledge is a waste".
Knowledge from one field can become the foundation for something unexpected in another.
I also thought about it π I started with C++ before moving fully to TypeScript & other high-level languages. I never thought I would come back to C and C++ π Also, I thought what I learned in high school was no longer required in college. If I had forgotten everything, I would have failed in the first month itself
Wow! π€― I never knew that we could embed comments in posts! Now he can delete/change the comment if he wants!
I came to DEV.to because I heard it's the best place to write technical tutorials. Now i understand it's not just for tutorials π
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