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Writing code is cheap now

simonwillison.net

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Re: Writing code is cheap now

#301

Post by simonw »

bsenftner wrote: post #300

This is such a surface level take, it's embarrassing. Unless he's talking about the impression in society, but he is not. Writing code is a social act even though few actually read it the code, they experience the result of that code. Maybe, just maybe Simon means "code is disposable now", because some shortcut taker can spin up an apparent duplicate by coaxing and pleading with AI. That is not a future worth partici…

Did you read the whole thing or just the headline?

What did you think of my list of characteristics of "good code"?

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#303

Post by kakacik »

TheDong wrote: post #208
arkh wrote: post #203

Every modern (and not so modern) software development method hinge on one thing: requirements are not known and even if known they'll change over time. From this you get the goal of "good" code which is "easy to change code". Do current LLM based agents generate code which is easy to change? My gut feeling is a no at the moment. Until they do I'd argue code generated from agents is only good for prototypes. Once you…

> Once you can ask your agent to change a feature and be 100% sure they won't break other features then you don't care about how the code looks like. That bar is unreasonably high. Right now, if I ask a senior engineer to change a feature in a mature codebase, I only have perhaps 70% certainty they won't break other features. Tests help, but only so far.

There are limits how badly can such senior screw up, or more likely forget some corner case situation. And he/she is on top of their own code and whole codebase and getting better each time, changing only whats needed, reverting unnecessary changes, seeing bigger picture. That's (also) seniority.

Llm brings an illusion of that, a statistical model that may or may not hit what you need. Repeat the question twice and senior will be better at task the second time. LLM will produce simply different output, maybe.

Do you feel like you have a full control over whats happening here? Business has absolutely insatiable lust for control, and IT systems are an area of each business that C-suite always feel they have least control of.

Reproducibility and general trust is not something marginal but core of good deliveries. Just read this thread - llms have 0 of that.

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#305

Post by htrp »

simonw wrote: post #301
bsenftner wrote: post #300

This is such a surface level take, it's embarrassing. Unless he's talking about the impression in society, but he is not. Writing code is a social act even though few actually read it the code, they experience the result of that code. Maybe, just maybe Simon means "code is disposable now", because some shortcut taker can spin up an apparent duplicate by coaxing and pleading with AI. That is not a future worth partici…

Did you read the whole thing or just the headline? What did you think of my list of characteristics of "good code"?

What are you thinking about for the new best practices for software engineering?

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#306

Post by simonw »

lnkl wrote: post #302
co_king_5 wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[dead]

No way that he would lie about this, right?

How is having a banner at the top of my page saying "Sponsored by:" lying about something?

A lie would be taking money from sponsors and not announcing it.

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#307

Post by mexicocitinluez »

simonw wrote: post #144
tabs_or_spaces wrote: post #130

> Code has always been expensive. Producing a few hundred lines of clean, tested code takes most software developers a full day or more. Many of our engineering habits, at both the macro and micro level, are built around this core constraint. > ... > Writing good code remains significantly more expensive I think this is a bad argument. Code was expensive because you were trying to write the expensive good code in the…

I was careful to say "Good code still has a cost" and "delivering good code remains significantly more expensive than [free]" rather than the more aesthetically pleasing "Good code is expensive. I chose this words because I don't think good code is nearly as expensive with coding agents as it was without them. You still have to actively work to get good code, but it takes so much less time when you have a coding agen…

> I chose this words because I don't think good code is nearly as expensive with coding agents as it was without them.

Still navigating this territory, but I think a lot of people are getting caught up on the idea that producing code is simply a matter of typing it at the keyboard.

One of the benefits of something like Claude Code isn't just the code it produces, but the ability to quickly try out ideas, get some feedback, AND THEN write the good code.

> than the more aesthetically pleasing

Agreed. What even is "good" code? So much of the bad code I write isn't necessarily that it's ugly, it's bad because it misses the mark. Because I made too many assumptions and didn't take the time to actual learn the domain. If I can eek out even a few more hours a week to actually build worthwhile solutions because I was able to focus a bit more, it's a win to me. My users in particular have a really difficult time imagining features without actually seeing them. They have a hard to articulating what's wrong/right without something tangible in front of them. It would be hard to argue that having the ability to quickly prototype and demo features to people is a bad thing.

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#308

Post by simonw »

co_king_5 wrote: post #297
i_love_retros wrote: post #293

Sponsored by: Teleport — Secure, Govern, and Operate AI at Engineering Scale Gee what a surprise.

[dead]

I couldn't find that in your comment history, where/when/what did you ask?

I'm frequently asked if companies pay me to write about them on my blog, and the answer is no. More on my policy here: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/19/sponsorship/

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#309

Post by chasd00 »

mmsc wrote: post #159
tabs_or_spaces wrote: post #130

> Code has always been expensive. Producing a few hundred lines of clean, tested code takes most software developers a full day or more. Many of our engineering habits, at both the macro and micro level, are built around this core constraint. > ... > Writing good code remains significantly more expensive I think this is a bad argument. Code was expensive because you were trying to write the expensive good code in the…

Spaghetti code was always a thing though

Yeah people going on and on about peerless human generated code reminds me of that scene in iRobot when the cop asks sonny “can a robot create a work of art?” And the robot replies “can you?”. In 30 years in this industry I’ve yet seen what I would describe as perfect and maintainable code. It’s an aspirational dream not SOP.

Re: Writing code is cheap now

#310

Post by skandinaff »

candiddevmike wrote: post #32
jdahlin wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the most interesting aspects is when LLMs are cheap and small enough so that apps can ship with a builtin one so that it can adjust code for each user based on input/usage patterns.

If this could ever happen, there will be no point in GUI apps anymore, your AI assistant or what have you will just interact with everything on your behalf and/or present you with some kind of master interface for everything. I don't see a bunch of small agents in the future, instead just one per device or user. Maybe there will be a fleeting moment for GUI/local apps to tie into some local, OS LLM library (or some k…

a new kind of operating system, that instead of having all those annoying apps, will just be an agent, that does whatever stuff you need|want|it can - why not? But still, we gonna need to be able to maintain many contexts, access remote servers, local file system, sort, present data, be it local or remote. One screen, one button, philosopher's stone made of silicon
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