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0 pointshxtk2mo ago0 comments

As I've gotten more experience I've tended to find more fun in tinkering with architectures than tinkering with code. I'm currently working on making a secure zero-trust bare metal kubernetes deployment that relies on an immutable UKI and TPM remote attestation. I'm making heavy use of LLMs for the different implementation details as I experiment with the architecture. As far as I know, to the extent I'm doing anything novel, it's because it's not a reasonable approach for engineering reasons even if it technically works, but I'm learning a lot about how TPMs work and the boot process and the kernel.

I still enjoy writing code as well, but I see them as separate hobbies. LLMs can take my hand-optimized assembly drag racing or the joy of writing a well-crafted library from my cold dead hands, but that's not always what I'm trying to do and I'll gladly have an LLM write my OCI layout directory to CPIO helper or my Bazel rule for putting together a configuration file and building the kernel so that I can spend my time thinking about how the big pieces fit together and how I want to handle trust roots and cold starts.

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MrDarcy2mo ago

So much this. The act of having the agent create a research report first, a detailed plan second, then maybe implement it is itself fun and enjoyable. The implementation is the tedious part these days, the pie in the sky research and planning is the fun part and the agent is a font of knowledge especially when it comes to integrating 3 or 4 languages together.

hxtkOP2mo ago

This goes further into LLM usage than I prefer to go. I learn so much better when I do the research and make the plan myself that I wouldn’t let an LLM do that part even if I trusted the LLM to do a good job.

I basically don’t outsource stuff to an LLM unless I know roughly what to expect the LLM output to look like and I’m just saving myself a bunch of typing.

“Could you make me a Go module with an API similar to archive/tar.Writer that produces a CPIO archive in the newcx format?” was an example from this project.

MrDarcy2mo ago

I get this and operated this way for most of 2025. In Q4 I paired up with peer who has similar experience level to me. They specialize in TypeScript, I specialize in Go, we're both ops / platform grey beards.

This pattern of LLM usage has been great for leaning the other's skill set so we can more effectively review each other's code. I can spend a week planning and iterating with Claud on TypeScript, then have my peer review and correct both the implemented outcome _and_ the plan that produced it, allowing me to learn how to drive the LLM more effectively in my non-preferred language. The same is true of him, he's able to autonomously learn and iterate on Go in a way that's efficient and respectful of my time.

More anecdotal evidence supporting the concept these tools are a super-power for experienced engineers, especially when you have a small group of them working together in multiple languages.

lmorchard2mo ago

Yeah, this is a lot of what I'm doing with LLM code generation these days: I've been there, I've done that, I vaguely know what the right code would look like when I see it. Rather than spend 30-60 minutes refreshing myself to swap the context back into my head, I prompt Claude to generate a thing that I know can be done.

Much of the time, it generates basically what I would have written, but faster. Sometimes, better, because it has no concept of boredom or impatience while it produces exhaustive tests or fixes style problems. I review, test, demand refinements, and tweak a few things myself. By the end, I have a working thing and I've gotten a refresher on things anyway.

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0 pointshxtk2mo ago0 comments

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MrDarcy2mo ago

hxtkOP2mo ago

I basically don’t outsource stuff to an LLM unless I know roughly what to expect the LLM output to look like and I’m just saving myself a bunch of typing.

“Could you make me a Go module with an API similar to archive/tar.Writer that produces a CPIO archive in the newcx format?” was an example from this project.

MrDarcy2mo ago

More anecdotal evidence supporting the concept these tools are a super-power for experienced engineers, especially when you have a small group of them working together in multiple languages.

lmorchard2mo ago

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