What's up? Hey everybody, my name's Jeffrey. We, so I've been thinking about this, uh, for a while now, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm done. I, and I didn't come to this conclusion lightly. It took a while, but I'm done. Uh, if you've been tracking LCA at all over the last handful of months, you may have noticed that simultaneously things have been very, very good, but also very, very bad.

that simultaneously things have been very, very good, but also very, very bad. Uh, so on the good side, we have released more content and courses and education in the last three months than we ever have in any three month span in the history of Ricca. It's really cool. On the other hand, I had to announce that we were cutting 40% of our staff, and that was excruciating. Uh, I knew it was coming, uh, throughout most of December, and I just had to live with it knowing that I was going to,

Uh, I knew it was coming, uh, throughout most of December, and I just had to live with it knowing that I was going to, um, wreck some people. And there just simply was no way around it. Uh, it is what it is. If, if the money's not there, the job's not there. Uh, it was horrible, uh, for everybody involved, but of course, most of all for, for the people affected. So, yeah, on one hand, like we're doing better than ever. I think the quality of our content is better than ever.

So, yeah, on one hand, like we're doing better than ever. I think the quality of our content is better than ever. And on the other hand, because of the realities of AI, we're having to cut our team. This tricky one, right? Uh, AI is, uh, itself, um, very much a mixed bag for me. Again, on one hand, um, I I'm positive it's, it's responsible for our layoffs. Um, have you ever seen that Stack Overflow graph where it's showing their traffic over time?

Um, have you ever seen that Stack Overflow graph where it's showing their traffic over time? And of course, you know, through 2008, 2010, 2000, it's just going up, up, up, up. And then, especially in the last year, it is taint to the point that now their traffic, uh, is equal to the traffic that they received in the first month of their existence. They are back to the first month of their existence in terms of traffic.

They are back to the first month of their existence in terms of traffic. Uh, now I think they're still fine financially. They've worked out deals. They're probably doing better than ever on that front, but still, in terms of traffic, They're kind of dead in the water, right? Uh, and I get it, right? You get it. When was the last time you went to Stack Overflow to answer your programming question, right?

When was the last time you went to Stack Overflow to answer your programming question, right? More than a year, right? Same. You use AI for these things now. Um, just even the, the notion that you're gonna ask a question and then I'll check back tomorrow for the answer. It seems so, uh, antiquated, right? People still do that. Uh, yeah. And actually on the Laravel fronts, um, the forum is still kicking,

Uh, yeah. And actually on the Lyrica fronts, um, the forum is still kicking, but of course, I think even the contributors would admit, it's not like they need other humans to answer their question, but they would like the interaction with other humans. And of course, that still is very much valuable. So, yeah, like AI has been devastating for my, like, think about it. My business model is teaching you how to write code and AI.

for my, like, think about it. My business model is teaching you how to write code and AI and agentic coding, uh, kind of cr worthy to say that, but that, that's the term. Agentic coding, um, says you don't need to write line by line anymore. So yes, very much devastating to my business model, and we're gonna do our best to adapt, but it is what it is. But yet, on the other hand, just personally, I am having more fun programming than I ever ha

But yet, on the other hand, just personally, I am having more fun programming than I ever have in my lifetime. Isn't that weird, right? Uh, for all of the talk about, like, I don't, I never open my code editor anymore. Everything happens through the command line. Um, I get it, but that's not me. My, my code editor, PHPStorm is open all day long. I'm constantly within there. Uh, but of course, I'm also using agents. I'm using uni.

I'm constantly within there. Uh, but of course, I'm also using agents. I'm using uni. Um, I'll reach for Claude sometimes. Um, I'm, I'm doing both at the same time, and I've never, I genuinely have never had more fun than I'm having right now, because I found that I'm no longer drained at the end of the day. And this was a, this might be a me thing, might be an age thing, but I, I felt it. Uh, and, and it's not even like I'm working on

might be an age thing, but I, I felt it. Uh, and, and it's not even like I'm working on anything overly ambitious. Not, not at all. It's quite, it's quite primitive, really. Uh, but still, at the end of the day, I just be mentally exhausted to the point that sometimes I just didn't even have energy for my children, which was its own problem. And then they think about like, you're trying to solve some bug.

And then they think about like, you're trying to solve some bug. I ran into so many issues with stripe and webhooks and things coming outta sequence. It was always a nightmare. Uh, and I just spend the entire day trying to figure it out. And then, like, I know you've experienced this, at the end of the day, you literally have a screen headache, and maybe you didn't even make progress on the issue, or maybe you did.

and maybe you didn't even make progress on the issue, or maybe you did. Either way, you still have that headache. I don't have that anymore because now I have this little para programmer buddy next to me that will help me out. And so I found that it's true. I'm not writing if statements line by line anymore. That is true, but I'm still programming. I'm still monitoring, I'm still, um, interacting with every line of code,

I'm still monitoring, I'm still, um, interacting with every line of code, but I may not be writing it by hand the way I used to. And this was a problem, especially in mid 2025, I think I, I've even tweeted about this where I mentioned I don't like this. This isn't why I got into programming. I didn't get into programming to ask a computer to write code for me. I did it because I liked problem solving.

to write code for me. I did it because I liked problem solving. And if, if I look back on my life, so many of the things I'm interested in is problem solving. I like chess. That is a, that's something you're trying to solve. How can I do here? How can I anticipate what they're gonna do? If they do that, then what am I gonna do, right? If then, right? Even I like video games.

If they do that, then what am I gonna do, right? If then, right? Even I like video games. Video games is problem solving, right? You have a riddle, you have a puzzle. I like puzzles and coding is a puzzle, but suddenly an agent can do all of the coding for you, and there's no puzzle to solve, right? Well, that's how I felt in mid 2025. And then I think December, 2025, we will look back on as a pivotal moment in the web development world.

And then I think December, 2025, we will look back on as a pivotal moment in the web development world. Um, I saw it, I saw it in real time. I was there, and you could see people had time off and they thought, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna play around with this. I don't have anything else going. Let's see. Let's see what it's capable of. And it was like universally at the same time, like a harmony.

And it was like universally at the same time, like a harmony. Everyone was like, oh, okay, okay. This is just a little bit better than maybe I thought it was. And maybe it's related to Opus 4.5. I don't know, maybe it's just related to people have more time and less responsibilities, so they're able to play around with it either way.

and less responsibilities, so they're able to play around with it either way. Um, I saw it, it's like people, people realized how good it had truly become. This Ricca snippet was brought to you by the incredible folks at Peach Pea Storm and Jet Brains. We recently launched our first AI course at ricca. It's called Leveraging AI for Laravel Development. And they helped to make it happen. I recorded this series myself, and we cover so, so much.

And they helped to make it happen. I recorded this series myself, and we cover so, so much. You'll learn about Peach PHPStorm AI workflows, prompting agents like Junie and Claude Skills, Ralph Wickham, and quite a bit more actually. And now, normally we might include a note, we might say Act now before the introductory price goes up. But no, there is no note. And that's because again, thanks to the PHPStorm team,

But no, there is no note. And that's because again, thanks to the php storm team, this entire thing is free to watch. Oh, and by the way, not free, as in sign up, give us your email so we can market and sell to you in perpetuity. Nope, just flat out plain old, free to watch. Alright, so the course is leveraging AI for Laravel development solely on Laravel has give it a watch. And again, thanks so much to Peach P Storm.

for Laravel development solely on Laravel has give it a watch. And again, thanks so much to Peach P Storm for sponsoring the course. So it is what it's, I mean, is there value in lamenting the fact that you love code and you like writing it line by line and you like crafting the code and that is your identity is there, is there value in it? Yes. But also I keep coming back to this phrase like, look, it is what it is.

Yes. But also I keep coming back to this phrase like, look, it is what it is. Those days are numbered and you gotta get on board. Like, or hmm, you can choose not to get on board, but you're gonna watch so many other people get on board, and I promise you they're gonna, they're gonna fly right by you. Uh, I'm seeing it myself. I'm just, I'm so much more productive than I was a few months ago.

I'm just, I'm so much more productive than I was a few months ago. All of think about it, all of those little bugs, I would run into that chopped out half, half of my day, they now chop out five minutes of my day, right? I can just naturally get so much more done. I have so much more energy to get things done, and I don't want to contribute to the cacophony, is that the right word? I'm hoping it's the right word.

cacophony, is that the right word? I'm hoping it's the right word. We're gonna look it up in a minute. I think it's right. I don't wanna contribute to it and I certainly don't wanna profit from it, and I won't. And at the same time, I feel it, right? I, I see it, I experience it. We're launching like two quite big features, uh, for Acast this week, each of which would've taken me two to three weeks individually just

for Acast this week, each of which would've taken me two to three weeks individually just to figure out an architect and then refactor and make look pretty. And I was able to do it in a day. And actually, let's be honest, I was actually able to do it in 20 minutes. But here's what I will say. You can vibe code all you want, but when I try it, it will, it will work.

You can vibe code all you want, but when I try it, it will, it will work. But then when I actually dig into the code, there's so many issues. So I'm presented with code that technically works, but is in no way how I would approach it. It might follow the conventions, but it's just not how I would do it. And that leads me to my next point. How much longer does that matter?

And that leads me to my next point. How much longer does that matter? Because right now I'm, I'm in this stage of what I would call like developer driven ai. I make a plan, work on it quite a bit. I interact with the agent to harness the plan, and then the agent executes the plan, right? Um, I even have it interview me. So if you use Claude, there's an askUserQuestion, um, skill or tool, uh,

So if you use Claude, there's an ask User question, um, skill or tool, uh, where it will figure out the things you didn't think about and interview you, which is really helpful. But anyways, once it's done, I'm going over every single file. Um, and maybe this isn't necessary, like I'm happy enough to admit that maybe we are reaching a stage where it's no longer necessary. But right now my gut tells me it is necessary.

where it's no longer necessary. But right now my gut tells me it is necessary. So I will go over every line, I will go over every file and just kind of do like a proof of it. Like, you know what, this seems wildly, this is one thing I run into, especially with JavaScript stuff. The way it will handle something. Like when the user scrolls to the page, then I want to display this.

Like when the user scrolls to the page, then I want to display this. The way it will do that is like 200 lines and wildly over complicated because it didn't know about some kind of, um, uh, API that it could reach for instead, right? So I don't want that. And my gut is if I ignore that, then it's going to compound and stack and stack and stack to the point where in the future it just can't do anything.

and stack and stack and stack to the point where in the future it just can't do anything because there's so much junk. I'm not gonna allow that, at least right now. So I will have it work on a future and it will be done in 20 minutes, let's say. And then I'm gonna spend the rest of the day just going over it, figuring out like, could we do this? 'cause this seems, uh, too complicated.

figuring out like, could we do this? 'cause this seems, uh, too complicated. What if we instead used a registry pattern instead? And you know, what did, did we even need this file at all? We, this could all be a single file. It doesn't need to be five files, right? So I'm just doing that over and over and sometimes I will write some code myself, but often I am interacting directly with the agent, providing a proof.

but often I am interacting directly with the agent, providing a proof. And you know what, again, I just lamented the fact that I had to do that and early 2025, but now I'm done. I'm over it. I'm over being sad that things have changed. They have changed and I migrated. And that's it. We have to adapt. That's, that's the only, that's the only pathway we can take. We have to go through. You can fight it all you want. We, this is not a trend. People wanna call this a trend.

We have to go through. You can fight it all you want. We, this is not a trend. People wanna call this a trend. It is, it is not a trend. This is clearly the way things are gonna be done going forward. So, um, it's sort of a get on board moment for all of us. Um, I get it. I get the feeling that maybe you spent the last five or 10 or 20 years, however old you are learning these things. And now maybe you feel like to some extent all of

This is just a simple explanation with no code.

This is just a simple explanation with no code.

How are you feeling now? Are you bitter? Are you angry? Are you ignoring it or are you more excited than ever? I'm really curious. Tell me what you think.