# How to learn programming in era of AI?

**URL:** <https://community.deeplearning.ai/t/how-to-learn-programming-in-era-of-ai/886576>\
**Category:** AI Discussions\
**Tags:** ai-discussions\
**Created:** [January 8, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://community.deeplearning.ai/t/how-to-learn-programming-in-era-of-ai/886576 "2026-01-08T17:47:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gowtham30](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea5d25/32.png) [@gowtham30](https://community.deeplearning.ai/u/gowtham30)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://community.deeplearning.ai/t/how-to-learn-programming-in-era-of-ai/886576/1 "2026-01-08T17:47:48Z")

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I want to become a better software engineer, and I often use AI to help with programming tasks. I’d like to understand the best practices others are following when using AI for development.

Should I focus on mastering fundamentals and practicing coding without AI first, or is it better to learn the fundamentals while using AI early on as part of the process?

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**Author:** ![TMosh](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/dlai/user_avatar/community.deeplearning.ai/tmosh/32/9321_2.png) [@TMosh](https://community.deeplearning.ai/u/TMosh)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 6:56pm UTC](https://community.deeplearning.ai/t/how-to-learn-programming-in-era-of-ai/886576/2 "2026-01-08T18:56:43Z")

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> [@gowtham30](#):
>
> Should I focus on mastering fundamentals and practicing coding without AI first …

Personally, I vote a strong “Yes”.

AI-generated code is not always correct, and you need to have the skills to recognize when this happens, and how to fix it.

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**Author:** ![gent.spah](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/dlai/user_avatar/community.deeplearning.ai/gent.spah/32/136423_2.png) [@gent.spah](https://community.deeplearning.ai/u/gent.spah)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 7:38am UTC](https://community.deeplearning.ai/t/how-to-learn-programming-in-era-of-ai/886576/3 "2026-01-09T07:38:40Z")

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You should try and solve problems and practice solving them by writing code, then you may use AI to give you further explanations or standard solution to particular problems. Basically use AI as an assistant.