Your brain is like a neural network
The title is a bit tongue-in-cheek since artificial neural networks are modeled after the human brain – not the other way around. Still, an artificial neural network is a good model to use as an example.
An artificial neural network consists of neurons organized in layers that are connected to each other. When the network is trained, some paths get stronger while others become weaker. Through this process, the network starts to learn how to identify and predict things.
The same is true for the human brain. If you perform a task regularly, your brain will be shaped to do that task better and more efficiently. Some neural paths get stronger. For instance, if you program regularly, your brain will get better at programming.
Most chess players who become grandmasters started playing chess at a very young age. Many began when they were around 5 years old. If you start at 15, it is already considered late. Chess is about pattern matching, and to become really good, you need to start shaping your brain from an early age.
Therefore, I believe the best programmers started at a young age and have been exposed to programming for a long time. Sure, there is a talent aspect as well, but in most cases, you only get good by spending a lot of time on something. There is the famous “10,000-hour rule”, popularized by Malcolm Gladwell, that suggests that it takes about 10,000 hours to master something.
If you are a junior developer, you cannot rely heavily on AI to write the code for you, because if you do, you won’t write the code yourself and therefore you won’t shape the neural patterns in your brain. Only by actually doing the work yourself will you shape your brain and become a good programmer.
