Building First, Learning Later: How AI Reshapes Programming Education

AI-augmented development is fundamentally reshaping how programming is learned by dramatically reducing technical barriers to creation. Play-First Programming proposes a new pedagogical model where learners begin by building meaningful projects with AI assistance, then develop understanding through iterative exploration—inverting the traditional learn-first approach. This shift has profound implications for educational accessibility, developer creativity, and how we prepare the next generation for AI-native software development.