There’s a meme I’ve seen pop up lately in places where professional software developers gather. A newcomer, excited about writing code with AI, shares their new project by sending a link to "localhost:3000". If you're smiling, you might recognize this classic moment of learning to code – that exciting point where you've built something but haven't quite figured out how to share it with the world.
I've been thinking about moments like these lately, as AI assistants like GitHub Copilot and Cursor make it easier than ever for people to build their own software. While there's been plenty of discussion about what this means for professional developers, I'm more curious about what it means for everyone else – the tinkerers, the problem-solvers, the folks who have a creative idea for something useful.
Robin Sloan captured this emerging space perfectly with the concept of home-cooked software. Just as we understand that home cooks can create incredible meals without being professional chefs, it’s easier than ever for people to craft software without being professional developers. As Sloan puts it, "When you liberate programming from the requirement to be professional and scalable, it becomes a different activity altogether, just as cooking at home is really nothing like cooking in a commercial kitchen."
What makes this kind of software creation special isn't just the satisfaction of building something useful – it's the freedom that comes with it. Writing about a messaging app he built for his family, Sloan describes a unique feeling in this era: "It won't change unless we want it to change. There will be no sudden redesign, no flood of ads, no pivot to chase a userbase inscrutable to us."
Living Between Worlds
As someone who has spent years managing software products and occasionally coding, I've found the AI assistants to be an incredible lever for building small apps and prototypes. I feel like I’m straddling two worlds – professional software development and personal software creation. Every week I find myself building something that would have seemed impossibly complex to me just a year ago.
But I think we're still missing some crucial pieces to make this kind of software creation truly accessible. Many of today’s AI-powered coding tools are designed to boost professional development teams rather than enable individual creators. We need platforms that make it as easy to deploy and share software as it is to publish a blog post.
Building for Each Other
I believe we're about to see an explosion in the number of people creating their own software tools. Think about how platforms like Shopify unleashed a wave of independent sellers online by handling the complex infrastructure that used to require a team of developers.
Maybe you'll build a tool that helps your book club organize discussions, or create a specialized calendar for your hiking group. Perhaps you'll develop a unique way to visualize your fitness data, or craft a simple app that makes your team's weekly meetings more efficient. These tools might never scale to millions of users, but like those early blogs, they'll be authentic expressions of what matters to you and the people around you.
I’ll be watching at localhost:3000.