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0 pointsqsort5mo ago0 comments

> Important: there is a lot of human coding, too.

I'm not highlighting this to gloat or to prove a point. If anything in the past I have underestimated how big LLMs were going to be. Anyone so inclined can take the chance to point and laugh at how stupid and wrong that was. Done? Great.

I don't think I've been intentionally avoiding coding assistants and as a matter of fact I have been using Claude Code since the literal day it first previewed, and yet it doesn't feel, not even one bit, that you can take your hands off the wheel. Many are acting as if writing any code manually means "you're holding it wrong", which I feel it's just not true.

0 comments

simonw5mo ago

Yeah, my current opinion on this is that AI tools make development harder work. You can get big productivity boosts out of them but you have to be working at the top of your game - I often find I'm mentally exhausted after just a couple of hours.

dotinvoke5mo ago

My experience with AI tools is the opposite. The biggest energy thieves for me are configuration issues, library quirks, or trivial mistakes that are hard to spot. With AI I can often just bulldoze past those things and spend more time on tangible results.

When using it for code or architecture or design, I’m always watching for signs that it is going off the rails. Then I usually write code myself for a while, to keep the structure and key details of whatever I’m doing correct.

troupo5mo ago

For me, LLMs always, without fail get important details wrong.

- incessantly duplicating already existing functionality: utility functions, UI components etc.

- skipping required parameters like passing current user/actor to DB-related functions

- completely ignoring large and small chunks of existing UI and UI-related functionality like layouts or existing styles

- using ad-hoc DB queries or even iterating over full datasets in memory instead of setting up proper DB queries

And so on and so forth.

YYMV of course depending on language and project

1 more reply

james_marks5mo ago

100%. It’s like managing an employee that always turns their work in 30 seconds later; you never get a break.

I also have to remember all of the new code that’s coming together, and keep it from re-inventing other parts of the codebase, etc.

More productive, but hard work.

sawmurai5mo ago

I have a similar experience. It feels like riding your bike in a higher gear - you can go faster but it will take more effort and you need the potential (stronger legs) to make use of it

specproc5mo ago

It's more like shifting from a normal to an electric bike.

You can go further and faster, but you can get to a point where you're out of juice miles from home, and getting back is a chuffing nightmare.

Also, you discover that you're putting on weight and not getting that same buzz you got on your old pushbike.

1 more reply

jstummbillig5mo ago

Considering the last 2 years, has it become harder or easier?

simonw5mo ago

Definitely harder.

A year ago I was using GitHub Copilot autocomplete in VS Code and occasionally asking ChatGPT or Claude to help write me a short function or two.

Today I have Claude Code and Codex CLI and Codex Web running, often in parallel, hunting down and resolving bugs and proposing system designs and collaborating with me on detailed specs and then turning those specs into working code with passing tests.

The cognitive overhead today is far higher than it was a year ago.

1 more reply

Fuzzwah5mo ago

Copilot is the perfect name.

truetraveller5mo ago

Woah, that's huge coming from you. This comment itself is worth an article. Do it. Call it "AI tools make development harder work".

P.s. always thought you were one of those irrational AI bros. Later, found that you were super reasonable. That's the way it should be. And thank you!

Pannoniae5mo ago

In fact, I've been writing more code myself since these tools exist - maybe I'm not a real developer but in the past I might have tried to either find a library online or try to find something on the internet to copypaste and adapt, nowadays I give it a shot myself with Claude.

For context, I mainly do game development so I'm viewing it through that lens - but I find it easier to debug something bad than to write it from scratch. It's more intensive than doing it yourself but probably more productive too.

scuff3d5mo ago

> Many are acting as if writing any code manually means "you're holding it wrong", which I feel it's just not true.

It's funny because not far below this comment there is someone doing literally this.

oblio5mo ago

LLMs are autonomous driving level 2.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

simonw5mo ago

dotinvoke5mo ago

troupo5mo ago

For me, LLMs always, without fail get important details wrong.

- incessantly duplicating already existing functionality: utility functions, UI components etc.

- skipping required parameters like passing current user/actor to DB-related functions

- completely ignoring large and small chunks of existing UI and UI-related functionality like layouts or existing styles

- using ad-hoc DB queries or even iterating over full datasets in memory instead of setting up proper DB queries

And so on and so forth.

YYMV of course depending on language and project

1 more reply

james_marks5mo ago

100%. It’s like managing an employee that always turns their work in 30 seconds later; you never get a break.

I also have to remember all of the new code that’s coming together, and keep it from re-inventing other parts of the codebase, etc.

More productive, but hard work.

sawmurai5mo ago

I have a similar experience. It feels like riding your bike in a higher gear - you can go faster but it will take more effort and you need the potential (stronger legs) to make use of it

specproc5mo ago

It's more like shifting from a normal to an electric bike.

You can go further and faster, but you can get to a point where you're out of juice miles from home, and getting back is a chuffing nightmare.

Also, you discover that you're putting on weight and not getting that same buzz you got on your old pushbike.

1 more reply

jstummbillig5mo ago

Considering the last 2 years, has it become harder or easier?

simonw5mo ago

Definitely harder.

A year ago I was using GitHub Copilot autocomplete in VS Code and occasionally asking ChatGPT or Claude to help write me a short function or two.

The cognitive overhead today is far higher than it was a year ago.

1 more reply

Fuzzwah5mo ago

Copilot is the perfect name.

truetraveller5mo ago

Woah, that's huge coming from you. This comment itself is worth an article. Do it. Call it "AI tools make development harder work".

P.s. always thought you were one of those irrational AI bros. Later, found that you were super reasonable. That's the way it should be. And thank you!

Pannoniae5mo ago

scuff3d5mo ago

> Many are acting as if writing any code manually means "you're holding it wrong", which I feel it's just not true.

It's funny because not far below this comment there is someone doing literally this.

oblio5mo ago

LLMs are autonomous driving level 2.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse