Rise of Creators - Programming

More and more creators are starting to write code, to some degree, to streamline their production processes.

These creators are well aware of where their bottlenecks lie, and their desire to spend more time creating fuels a motivation and curiosity that can sometimes surpass even that of engineers in self-learning. They can even pinpoint solutions more accurately than engineers can.

Consulting documentation, hitting an API, and completing some simple applications or daily tasks don’t require extensive engineering skills—just a basic understanding of programming is enough to get started easily.

This led me to reflect on how I, as an engineer, should position myself in such a scenario.

When we use the same programming language and libraries as creators to solve the same problems, although their code may be a bit messy, they often have an advantage in identifying problems and solutions. Of course, I know that in fields like architecture, engineering, high traffic, or specialized areas, experience and accumulated expertise are still essential. However, this is a great opportunity to thoughtfully consider how the boundaries between different fields are becoming less distinct. Everyone can possess multiple skills and domain knowledge simultaneously—what can an engineer do in this context?

In this situation, if we want to move forward, I think we can approach it from a few angles:

1. A solid and profound foundation in computer science.
2. Deepening expertise in a field outside of programming.
3. Engaging in activities beyond coding, such as marketing, product management, communication, and self-management.

Let’s talk about a video from a few weeks ago by Haohe Xuan — let’s add subtitles. Although it’s somewhat off-topic from music, I was surprised by his willingness to turn his ideas into actions and even share them on GitHub for others to use and modify.

This feature is quite simple, and engineers who know how to code should be able to whip it up in no time. However, I would argue that the more important aspect is the idea and the action itself.

Did you think of this idea? Not to mention that some engineers immediately want to refactor and over-engineer as soon as they see the code, spending hours without even delivering a functional product.

Moreover, if you take a closer look at the code, it’s not that hard to understand. At most, it’s just that the variables are placed outside, making them a bit harder to manage. But I find this code to be very straightforward and concise, without any complicated abstractions.

If you closely examine Haohe Xuan’s channel, you’ll find he embodies many qualities of an excellent engineer: clear logic, organized thinking, a love for sharing, and swift action. These traits are valuable even in the industry, let alone across fields. He uses a piano to make calls, decodes videos, writes a song using Google Translate, creates a subtitle generator, and explores the circle of fifths. Some of the code he writes might even stump seasoned engineers.

Haohe Xuan is one of my favorite YouTube channels, which I’ve been watching since graduating high school, and I’ve learned quite a bit of practical music theory from it.

In fact, learning a domain and developing a corresponding learning methodology is not much different from programming. This is why you might find someone from a non-technical background able to grasp essential knowledge so quickly—they’ve had training in other fields.

I witnessed this firsthand in my previous job.

Creators invest significant time in producing their work, and if they survive in the industry, they inevitably master their own set of rules and know-how. Because they also have expertise in another domain, they can quickly identify solutions or pinpoint issues.

Does this mean that engineers are losing their value? Absolutely not.

This phenomenon can actually filter out the less competent engineers, as those without real skills will quickly be surpassed.

While it’s great that creators are starting to write code, they often do it merely to address immediate problems and may not fully understand the principles or performance implications. This is where the value of engineers comes into play, though I would say that with the surplus of computing power, this value doesn’t always shine through.

Then there are the more challenging large-scale problems, such as GPS, big data, machine learning, and computer vision, where brief learning may not suffice. Engaging deeply with the knowledge required in these areas is what makes engineers irreplaceable. Additionally, there’s the foundational knowledge in operating systems, timeless data structures, and algorithms.

I believe that besides Haohe Xuan, many creators have already stepped into the programming realm, which seems to be an intriguing phenomenon. I look forward to more creators sharing their experiences in learning to code.