Dialogue Between a Developer and a Kid

A lone developer was walking uphill, his feet unstable on the fine-grained black sand of the terrain. Sweat droplets were falling from his face to the ground, forming tiny rivers that went unnoticed.

The sky was as dark as the annoying sand, except for a few distant, colorful planets. The space was filled with a peculiar tension, as if every inanimate object or particle was waiting for something to happen. Falling stars appeared as fast as they disappeared. Undoubtedly, it was a special night.

Developer: I hate this sand. It’s all in my shoes.

A few minutes later, as the slope of the hill got gentler, the developer saw a small figure curved on the ground frenetically moving their hands. As the developer got closer, he recognized it was a kid playing with the sand.

Developer: Hey there, what’re you up to?

Kid: Hi, I’m developing my first video game! You see, I can draw characters with the sand and give them life through blocks of code! It’s a game about a ball that must escape a ghost for as long as possible. Do you want to try it?

The sand reorganized itself, the shapes of a ghost and a ball appeared, and the former started chasing the latter.

Kid: Haha! You didn’t beat my highscore of 0!

Developer: It was really fun, well done! You know, I write code as well, I’m a software developer.

Kid: Wow, that’s so cool! My dream is to become a programmer too! I want to know all the programming languages in the world!

Developer: Haha, sounds nice… how’s it going so far?

Kid: Very well! I’ve learnt a little bit of Visual Basic, now I’m studying Scratch to build video games. Then I want to learn C++, PHP, Java, HTML, …

Developer: Hey, it’s good that you’re so eager to learn. However I recommend that you focus on a single language and master it: then it will be much easier for you to pick up a new programming language!

Kid: Oh, interesting!! And which is the best language to learn?

Developer: C is always a good starting point. But there is no correct answer: you can also stick to Visual Basic or Scratch until you feel very confident.

Kid: And how many programming languages do you know??

Developer: Well, I don’t count them… probably around 10, but only a few of them very well. Anyway, you shouldn’t focus on learning as many languages as possible.

Kid: Only 10?? At your age I will know a lot more for sure!

Developer: You see, it’s not only about languages: you need to learn libraries and frameworks in order to become a good developer.

Kid: What are libraries and frameworks?

Developer: Basically they’re code written by someone else that you use to build software faster.

Kid: What?! That sounds really boring! I don’t want to use the code written by someone else, I want to be the one writing the code!

Developer: Actually…

The conversation went on. Maybe it was the kid’s stubbornness, maybe it was the sand in the shoes. Maybe it was both, maybe it was none: but the developer grew angrier and angrier.

Kid: So, yeah, I want to build a new game just like Super Mario—

Developer: Wait, what’s the point? You’re just copying games that already exist! You should strive to create something new and unique, something that others will truly enjoy!

Kid: Maybe I can try and if I get bored I will switch to some other game!

The developer laughed.

Developer: That’s a great way to waste your time! You’re one of those people who start projects and abandon them! You see, I also used to be that way, but I’ve changed. Now I finish every project I start, and I refine it in order to make it public and useful to other people!

Kid: That sounds—

Developer: DON’T INTERRUPT ME! Also I don’t write everything from scratch like you do! I use libraries! I use LLMs to write code! I focus on the idea and offload the heavy programming work as much as possible! That’s what it means to be a programmer, a real programmer!

Kid: …

Developer: Come on, say what you wanted to say!

Kid: …

Developer: SAY IT! WERE YOU GOING TO INSULT ME?! I DARE YOU…

As the developer was yelling, the kid became serious. He seemed absent-minded. After a while, the kid started crying. For reasons that go beyond comprehension, tears grew larger with each drop, and formed puddles on the sand that quickly became rivers running downhill in all directions.

Terrified, the developer hopelessly tried to run away, but his body was already caught by fast rivers of tears. As he started sinking in the sand, the developer took a last look at the kid: he was now ominously big.

Just before disappearing under the sand, the developer was crying too.