very true and cryptic codebases w/o documentation was the only reason why i was employed for the last 20 years. lol

interviewing & working w the young people hired at my last 2 places who used ai to get work done MUCH faster than i could showed me how much of a dinosaur i was and it was the biggest contributing factor to leaving the field. my experience in the last 10 of those 20 years makes me aware that only software engineers with a prestigious pedigrees (eg well regarded universities and/or well known names in their resume) are given a chance today.

people trying to take a path similar to mine to become a software engineer -- poorly regarded state university degree and accepting shitty contract gigs at the beginning of their career in roles that are barely software related -- are fucked unless they're lucky or well connected.

i was SUPER LUCKY to get contract gigs at faang and old-silicon shops to put on my resume and i learned retroactively (and in writing) that, that was the only reason i got interviewed at all.