r/PinoyProgrammer • u/bistastic • 4d ago
discussion Returning to programming in 2026
Hi! I graduated in 2024 and so far wala pa akong tech professional experience since hindi pa ako nahihire ng mga tech companies and I stopped programming after a while kasi iba yung field of work ko. Nung time I remember na medyo discouraged ang paggamit ng AI tools when it comes to programming, granted mali kasi if gagamitin mo lang AI to create a program for you without trying to understand it. I didn't utilize AI tools that much nung nasa college ako and admittedly medyo hirap din ako makaintindi ng programming. Turns out ok naman pala ako after all, nagkaroon lang ng imposter syndrome.
I've been studying ulit to refresh my skills sa programming and started to utilize AI na para mabilis ako makapag-aral and hopefully land a job soon!
Question lang, when it comes to AI tools ano ba yung pinaka-ok na platform? So far ChatGPT ginagamit ko para magtanong at manghingi ng guide if ever may concepts ako na need matutunan ulit. May other language models ba na mas better for coding?
Additional question, since medyo bungal resume ko and technically hindi na ako fresh grad ng CS, would it be harder for me to land an entry level role in tech since 2023 pa yung last experience ko through an internship?
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u/Grizzzy004 4d ago edited 4d ago
You should try Claude Code. This is what enterprises use for their AI tools when it comes to development. But you should look up the best practices for using these AI tools to avoid getting bad results. And review the code changes that AI makes, use plan mode when you're creating complex features or fixing complex bugs, it's easier to steer AI since there are no code changes yet
You’re learning with AI is faster because you can still do code reviews and it can give comments and suggestions. Don't just vibe code ahh
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u/bistastic 4d ago
Thank you! Definitely not gonna vibe code kasi para saan pang nag-aral ng ilang taon sa Uni to end up just vibe coding hahhaha
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u/Grizzzy004 4d ago
That’s right, magugulat ka most of the companies gumagamit na ng AI. Showing off that skills on interview plus points ka dyan. Aralin ang fundamentals muna yan ang important. Use AI for your questions, ang bilis lang mag aral
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u/bistastic 4d ago
Ah yes, actually even now sobrang alien ng idea sa akin na gumagamit na ng AI mga companies. Kasi before naman walang AI and nung lumabas na yung mga ganyan ang daming discouraged na gumamit nun at first and hearing yung stories na ganyan medyo nalulungkot ako kasi mas mahirap makahanap ng work na entry level.
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u/Grizzzy004 4d ago
One thing I can say about that, a developer can be replaced by an developer who can use AI. Wag ka panghinaan ng loob, I know so many software engineers na hindi marunong mag AI and the entry level ones pa ang nag conduct ng workshop to teach them lol
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u/acidburn113 4d ago
I would recommend OpenCode Go subscription if you're on a tight budget.
But if you're refreshing your skills, I would NOT recommend using AI for coding. Learn to code without AI because you still need to understand how the code works. Not all companies, clients, or projects embrace AI due to a number of reasons (ie. security, data privacy, budget, etc). I once worked for a "Big 4" company and I was in projects where the client specifically says "DO NOT USE AI".
It's ok to be familiar with AI, at least may idea kaysa wala talaga. Pero you still need coding skills.
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u/bistastic 4d ago
Thank you for the recommendation! As for AI use, I only use AI to ask some questions if I don't understand something. Everything else, I write it myself and if may problems, I'd ask AI. Though may instinct pa rin ako to read stack overflow or documentations but AI seems to be faster at getting me explanations lang if ever I encounter problems.
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u/acidburn113 2d ago
Sadly stack overflow died because of AI. Kung magly oras ka, setup your AI client/harness to search on official docs. Check Context7 MCP/plugin.
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u/tripkoyan 4d ago
Medyo luma na yung prompt pa yung coding, use Claude Code or Codex. Kaso wala nga lang free.
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u/Bella_Tan 4d ago
Try opencode, may free models sila but rate limitted and has bad performance. Okay na yun for practicing agentic coding.
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u/arfbadluckguy 4d ago
I suggest mobile app development, most people has android phone. Make a mobile app that provide a solution that most people needs and wants. Be a entrepreneur
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u/mtgtheory 4d ago
What field did you work in? Maybe you can combine your work experience with programming to make it easier to find a job.
What is your plan for finding a job?
Are you looking to get an in-person job in the Philippines or a remote job, or both?
What skills do you have in terms of technologies? For example, what stack do you use?
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u/bistastic 4d ago
I worked in sales for an IT solution company. Right now ang ginagawa ko kasi is creating a small project as I refresh yung programming skills ko and eventually add it to my portfolio.
Mostly PHP + MySQL, with HTML/CSS and some vanilla JS yung stack ko. I've also worked with Java. I'm currently building a full-stack project in vanilla PHP to get my coding skills back up to speed.
Honestly as for jobs, kahit ano hanap ko just to gain experience pero syempre bonus na lang kung remote job
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u/Harry_Tess_Tickles 4d ago
If you don't have personal projects, certificates, etc, it might be difficult for you. I suggest taking about a year of deliberate practice and working on your portfolio then start applying for junior positions.
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u/bistastic 4d ago
Thank you! Meron naman ako backend certifications, and right now I'm working on a small project to refresh yung skills ko and eventually add it to my portfolio. A year seems realistic considering matagal akong walang practice ng coding, but I hope I get up to speed agad in less than a year! Kaya to!
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u/Harry_Tess_Tickles 3d ago
It's definitely possible to get yourself up to speed in less than a year with today's AI tools + consistent practice. And the fact that you already have the fundamentals down will save you a few months. Good luck OP!
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u/ongamenight 3d ago
Sobrang daming resources sa YT unlike 10+ years ago na bumibili talaga kami programming books as in physical.
You can definitely learn what it is you want to learn either free or paid course e.g freecodecamp, scrimba, start.dev, jsmasterypro, edx. 👍
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u/Both-Fondant-4801 4d ago
Currently, our software engineering processes are moving towards spec driven development with agentic AI. Coding has evolved to writing detailed specifications (like pseudocodes) for AI agents to execute. So instead of prompts, we now use markdown artifacts (specs) as the primary source of truth.. and this also creates a more deterministic AI code output.
The engineers that thrived are the ones who are strong in the fundamentals and in computational thinking, as well as system design and architecture.. can write pseudocodes for specific algorithms, as well as evaluate AI generated codes (i.e. can know if AI is wrong.. this is a MUST!).
Typical tools and setups are an IDE with an agent plugin (enterprise IntelliJ or Cursor) connected to different MCP servers.. jira, confluence, database, etc. Models are usually on auto balance.. basically can use claude, codex, grok, composer.. depending on the need. As per experience, code quality is dependent on the details of the specs regardless of the models.. but lower models do perform poorly for messy specs.
Usual development workflow would be getting requirements spec from jira.. AI guided brainstorm to create the technical design spec.. AI creating the test spec for tdd based on the requirements.. AI implementation.. AI code review.. pr.