As a classically trained Aerospace Engineer, I too enjoy the puzzle/problem solving aspect of coding including the near immediate feedback of a successful refactor or solution, but i think we are just at the beginning of what AI as an assistant has to offer.

My analog is with NASA and the Apollo space program. There was a lull in the 1980's and 1990's when many NASA engineers fell prey to just "cut and paste" the equivalent of PowerPoint explanations that were brilliantly derived in the 1960s but WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING the math and engineering. Elon Musk and SpeceX recognized this. They trimmed the staff and encouraging existing staff to get over their government-worker mindsets and actually do their homework and work with AI or brilliant mentors and compete alongside a lean and hardworking set of colleagues that launched a new era of aerospace capabilities and opportunities. (Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with SpaceX except as an observer).

I think the same can happen with AI driven software in general alongside AI as co-pilot. We must maintain a core staff who understand the fundamentals...IDEs help accelerate the learning and parallel guardrail creation/monitoring that junior developers must master, so helpful and timely lessons from Laracasts will help all of us evolve and do more with less staff. Though trimming staff is tough, efficiency is not always a bad thing.

My 2 bits

Great course, JW...learned so much! Thanks for all the effort and your very effective and ever-evolving teaching techniques. Dare I ask....and did I miss it, but are any of your demo Idea project's source code files or the Laravel From Scratch (2026 Edition) episode-incremented source files available publicly on GH? I don't see them on the public repo tab on the laracasts repo list.

I realize releasing them will encourage many to take short cuts (which is thankfully not the point of your educational style), but it also might provide some parallel reinforcement along the pathway as learners construct their own follow-along projects as the course unfolds. I am sure posting source was a tough and deliberate decision, but are the files listed elsewhere? There are ways to limit visibility to paid Laracasts subscribers.

The answer is no...the database will remain.