I've spent my career helping people build software. This is a series of letters about what happens when the tools for building change faster than the principles behind building. Each one is a reminder that while the technology changes quickly, the questions that matter often stay the same.
Dear past Jenna,
The thing that drew you to tech in the first place, that it's always changing, is the thing that will keep you here.
Tools change (sometimes for the better and sometimes not) almost weekly. People who never consider themselves technical, much less a developer, will build apps in an afternoon with this new programming language called English. Products will go from idea to deployed before you finish your first cup of coffee (you have a toddler now, so you rarely get the full cup before it goes cold anyways). "I don't know how to code" or "I'm not technical" is no longer a barrier to building.
And that's exciting, given you've focused nearly your entire career helping others build software. But we can't confuse the ability to build with the wisdom to build.
