Not sure if just me, but this post feels AI written?
You are absolutely right.
I'm going back to writing code by hand
81–90 of 656 posts
Re: I'm going back to writing code by hand
#82I've set a few rules for working with coding agents: 1. If I use a coding agent to generate code, it should be something I am absolutely confident I can code correctly myself given the time (gun to my head test). 2. If it isn't, I can't move on until I completely understand what it is that has been generated, such that I would be able to recreate it myself. 3. I can create debt (I believe this is being called Cogniti…
I’ve also heard it being called “comprehension debt,” which I like a little more because I think it’s more precise: the specific debt being accrued is exactly a lack of comprehension of the code.
Re: I'm going back to writing code by hand
#83I've set a few rules for working with coding agents: 1. If I use a coding agent to generate code, it should be something I am absolutely confident I can code correctly myself given the time (gun to my head test). 2. If it isn't, I can't move on until I completely understand what it is that has been generated, such that I would be able to recreate it myself. 3. I can create debt (I believe this is being called Cogniti…
This is great until the "gun to your head" is your skip-level manager demanding that a feature be implemented by the end of the week, and they know you can just "generate it with AI" so that timeline is actually realistic now whereas two years ago it would have required careful planning, testing, and execution.
Re: I'm going back to writing code by hand
#84> Vibe-coding makes you feel like you have infinite implementation budget. You don't. You have infinite LINE budget (the AI will generate as much code as you want). But you have the same finite complexity budget as always. This is a special case of a general fundamental point I'm struggling with. Let's assume AI has reduced the marginal cost of code to zero. So our supply of code is now infinite. Meanwhile, other cri…
Right - knowing what to actually build always has been and always will be the limiting factor to actual success. I could spend months and hundreds of dollars generating the absolute BEST todo list that's out there but nobody wants that.
Re: I'm going back to writing code by hand
#85This reads too much like it was LLM generated. I can't say for sure if it was but I have an allergic reaction to the short snappy know-it-all LLM writing style.
AI;DR
Re: I'm going back to writing code by hand
#86I've set a few rules for working with coding agents: 1. If I use a coding agent to generate code, it should be something I am absolutely confident I can code correctly myself given the time (gun to my head test). 2. If it isn't, I can't move on until I completely understand what it is that has been generated, such that I would be able to recreate it myself. 3. I can create debt (I believe this is being called Cogniti…
While this is a legitimate set of rules to follow for maintaining code sanity and a solid mental model of how a codebase may grow, it’s always challenging to stick to them in a workplace where expectations around delivery speed have changed drastically with the onset of AI. The sweet spot lies in striking a balance between staying connected to the codebase and not becoming a limiting factor for the team at the same time.
Re: I'm going back to writing code by hand
#87I've set a few rules for working with coding agents: 1. If I use a coding agent to generate code, it should be something I am absolutely confident I can code correctly myself given the time (gun to my head test). 2. If it isn't, I can't move on until I completely understand what it is that has been generated, such that I would be able to recreate it myself. 3. I can create debt (I believe this is being called Cogniti…
I’ve also heard it being called “comprehension debt,” which I like a little more because I think it’s more precise: the specific debt being accrued is exactly a lack of comprehension of the code.
Yeah I like that better too, gonna start using that
Re: I'm going back to writing code by hand
#88I've set a few rules for working with coding agents: 1. If I use a coding agent to generate code, it should be something I am absolutely confident I can code correctly myself given the time (gun to my head test). 2. If it isn't, I can't move on until I completely understand what it is that has been generated, such that I would be able to recreate it myself. 3. I can create debt (I believe this is being called Cogniti…
This is about how I use it. I initially use it to carve out an architecture and iterate through various options. That saves a lot of time for me having to iterate through different language features and approaches. Once I get that, I have it scaffold out, and I go in and tidy things up to my personal liking and standards. From there, I start iterating through implementations. I generally have been implementing stuff myself, but I've gotten better at scaffolding out functions/methods through code instead of text. Then I ask it to finish things off. That falls into your first category of letting it implement stuff that I already know I could do. Not sure if it's faster. But it's lower cognitive load for me, since I can start thinking about the next steps without being concerned about straightforward code.
This all works pretty great. Where it starts going off the rails is if I let it use a library I'm not >=90% comfortable with. That's a good use of these tools, but if I let it plow through feature requests, I end up accumulating debt, as you pointed out.
For my uses, I'm still finding the right balance. I'm not terribly sure it makes me faster. What I do think it helps with is longer focused sections because my cognitive load is being reduced. So I can get more done but not necessarily faster in the traditional sense. It's more that I can keep up momentum easier, which does deliver more over time.
I'm interested in multi agent systems, but I'm still not sure of the right orchestration pattern. These AI tools still can go off the rails real quick.
Re: I'm going back to writing code by hand
#89I've set a few rules for working with coding agents: 1. If I use a coding agent to generate code, it should be something I am absolutely confident I can code correctly myself given the time (gun to my head test). 2. If it isn't, I can't move on until I completely understand what it is that has been generated, such that I would be able to recreate it myself. 3. I can create debt (I believe this is being called Cogniti…
While this is a legitimate set of rules to follow for maintaining code sanity and a solid mental model of how a codebase may grow, it’s always challenging to stick to them in a workplace where expectations around delivery speed have changed drastically with the onset of AI. The sweet spot lies in striking a balance between staying connected to the codebase and not becoming a limiting factor for the team at the same t…
That's kind of what I figured, sadly. I haven't experienced it personally yet since I got let go from my last job about 14 months ago, but it makes so much sense given how management is so willing to sacrifice quality for speed.
Re: I'm going back to writing code by hand
#90I don't think the prompts that the author has proposed will actually work. Including final scope and non-scope is good but it's more of a reaction of what the AI already did. These prompts are suitable for a rewrite, basically, since it's unlikely anyone would have had these ready when they start out.
I have found small iterations to have the best results. I'm not giving AI any chance to one shot it. For example, I won't tell it to "create a fleet view" but something more like "extract key binding to a service" so that I can reuse it in another view before adding another view. Basically, talk to the AI as an engineer talking to another engineer at the nitty gritty level that we need to deal with everyday, not a product person wishing for a business selling point to magically happen.