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Using AI to write better code more slowly

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Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly

#101

Post by habinero »

i_love_retros wrote: post #63
bottlepalm wrote: post #4

I've hit this point with AI where it's not a simple process, but a long drawn out back and forth. I'll use AI to design the implementation of a medium sized, cross cutting feature. Review all the details, maybe iterate on just that. Then implement with Claude 4.7 Max - which runs slower, but does a better job. Then review the implementation, then have Codex GPT 5.5 xhigh fast review it - which almost always finds cor…

This all sounds insane. If it requires so much back and forth with the AI why on earth wouldn't you just write the code yourself? At least then you build the mental model of the code and keep your brain healthy. Reading the comments in here about all the hoops people are having to jump through just to do the same thing they were doing a year ago without AI... and spending a fortune to do it! I think you've all got AI…

I honestly don't get it, either. Most of them just flat out can't code at all, but for the ones who can, the only explanation I got is it feels like productivity.

I will say, it does help me get over procrastination lol. I get annoyed by the robot doing dumb shit and finish it myself.

Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly

#102

Post by habinero »

bottlepalm wrote: post #98
i_love_retros wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This all sounds insane. If it requires so much back and forth with the AI why on earth wouldn't you just write the code yourself? At least then you build the mental model of the code and keep your brain healthy. Reading the comments in here about all the hoops people are having to jump through just to do the same thing they were doing a year ago without AI... and spending a fortune to do it! I think you've all got AI…

I would never imagine this is where programming would be five years ago, but at the end of day having the AI write the code is easier, faster, and results in higher quality. The mental model is still in my head, my brain is overloaded, but only from the amount of code reviews - like I said, I'm building v3 of a feature in the time it takes to build v1, but I am in a way doing 3x the code reviews going back and forth.…

You're not on v3 lol. You're on v1 that you had to redo three times.

If the feature isn't released, it's not a new version.

Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly

#104

Post by boringstack »

bottlepalm wrote: post #4

I've hit this point with AI where it's not a simple process, but a long drawn out back and forth. I'll use AI to design the implementation of a medium sized, cross cutting feature. Review all the details, maybe iterate on just that. Then implement with Claude 4.7 Max - which runs slower, but does a better job. Then review the implementation, then have Codex GPT 5.5 xhigh fast review it - which almost always finds cor…

You've essentially promoted yourself from coder to engineering manager, trading syntax fatigue for the mental marathon of refereeing specialized AI developers to ship v3-quality code on the first try.

Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly

#105

Post by bottlepalm »

aomix wrote: post #59
bottlepalm wrote: post #4

I've hit this point with AI where it's not a simple process, but a long drawn out back and forth. I'll use AI to design the implementation of a medium sized, cross cutting feature. Review all the details, maybe iterate on just that. Then implement with Claude 4.7 Max - which runs slower, but does a better job. Then review the implementation, then have Codex GPT 5.5 xhigh fast review it - which almost always finds cor…

Talking the problem to death with the AI before implementation is a nice zone for me. I feel productive, get good results out of the AI, and still largely understand the code. That’s the part of the AI revolution that I feel has made me a better engineer because I argue about design and architecture all day with a robot.

One strategy I use in the planning phase is even when I know how I'd implement the solution, I ask the Claude/Codex how they would solve the problem or implement the feature without giving them any clues - and then compare their solutions to my own. Often I am pleasantly surprised by alternative ways of doing things and ideas that we integrate into the final design.

Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly

#106

Post by habinero »

bottlepalm wrote: post #100
skydhash wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds too much like three weeks of work saving you three hours of planning. In my experience, software engineering is a matter of knowledge. Understanding it and then coming up with a solution. The latter is a flash of insight that comes mostly from experience. Then you gather more information to flesh it out, or brainstorm it with your colleagues. What you're describing sounds more like a ritual of doing busy…

A lot of people say you need to go through at least three versions of something before it is mature - and v3 is not something you can design upfront. You need to see v1 both in code, and at runtime. Use it, get the feedback, and iterate. This is where AI tightens that loop immensely. Lost you in the last paragraph - features are not "copy pasting because you already have all the building blocks" and "something may be…

> Mid sized features often mean tearing up many layers of code across the stack to add in some sort of new capability

What? No, it shouldn't. I've worked on a lot of codebases and if you have to do this, something is very, very wrong.

Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly

#107

Post by halfcat »

themanmaran wrote: post #80

As I read this, I'm also working through a pretty dense feature that took a fair bit of iteration. The end result is actually significantly less code than it was about halfway through. And I was wondering if the AI actually helped me at all, since surely I could have written the code in the same time it took to iterate But! Because of AI I was able to rapidly hack out like 4 variants of this feature that I didn't lik…

So what’s the verdict? Was it worth it?

Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly

#110

Post by bottlepalm »

boringstack wrote: post #104
bottlepalm wrote: post #4

I've hit this point with AI where it's not a simple process, but a long drawn out back and forth. I'll use AI to design the implementation of a medium sized, cross cutting feature. Review all the details, maybe iterate on just that. Then implement with Claude 4.7 Max - which runs slower, but does a better job. Then review the implementation, then have Codex GPT 5.5 xhigh fast review it - which almost always finds cor…

You've essentially promoted yourself from coder to engineering manager, trading syntax fatigue for the mental marathon of refereeing specialized AI developers to ship v3-quality code on the first try.

Indeed. AI is bumping everyone up to manager level, and having dealt with long PR feedback cycles with humans for years - I don't mind the promotion. Also shipping a v3 is so much nicer than shipping a v1 and dealing the all the corner cases in production.

Before AI, myself and everyone else I knew was drowning in tech debt. And now with AI we are treading water.

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