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Why write code in 2026

softwaredoug.com

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Re: Why write code in 2026

#31

Post by sublinear »

light_hue_1 wrote: post #7

This is too generic. There's some code I need to write like core abstractions that are going to set the pace for everything. Or tricky steps that can look good without actually working well. Then there's the mass. I don't need that anymore. The mountains of boilerplate, etc. I write little islands which need high judgement that are then connected by the obvious goo.

The boilerplate was always boilerplate though. You never needed to write it to already have that code in your project, so I'm confused by what you mean.

Generating boilerplate is strictly inferior than something already written and tested by the authors of the tools. You will eventually have to make slight adjustments to it, and those decisions can be just as impactful as your "high judgment" code. Those decisions are what actually enable your high judgment code to stay clean and straightforward.

Poor decisions in code architecture are some of the biggest blunders of all. Once you have begun to fill in the blanks on some boilerplate code, it ceases to remain boilerplate code. If you let AI make those adjustments, you will eventually blunder the codebase in precisely this way. You'll first recognize it when your high judgment code seems too verbose. You'll then soon realize some things are impossible without adjusting the boilerplate you started off with. Then the AI will fail to grasp what you want and you'll have to manually untangle a lot of the slop that you let grow out of control. Good luck with that.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#34

Post by nevertoolate »

rossant wrote: post #21
jdw64 wrote: post #13

Recently, even a tourist lost to OAI's model in competitive coding. To be honest, I haven't been able to beat AI at coding since around 5.2. People often say 'AI can't write good code,' but in reality, the quality of AI's output is layered depending on the level of the prompt input. The deeper the prompt, the better the code actually gets. Usually, when people say AI code is terrible, it's because they either don't u…

I don't write code anymore, because AI writes better code than me. I could write code, but the next AI would find 10 ways to make it better and more consistent with the rest of the AI-generated codebase. So I just let it write all of it. However, I inspect it all carefully and I constantly asks it to reflect on the code quality, to refactor, to reorganize, to make the code as good as possible. The end result is code…

Can you explain what you are working on?

I’ve stopped using llms to generate architecture, which i design and write myself and let the machine pattern match the gaps. I also use it to review issues which I lot of the times push back against.

I’m working on a stateful application sitting on top of a data warehouse and have to implement a stream of messy half defined feature requests and navigate on top of an ever changing infrastructure layer. LLMs rarely get the infra layer even if it is written as code and have hard time grasping how to deal with tech debt, when and how to re-architecture parts of the stack or even implement stuff based on a detailed openspec design.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#35

Post by h2aichat »

It seems to me that AI won the code Battle and that humans are just trying to justify the defeat. I will relax and wait for the Next AI generation to see how it fixed its problems. May be, everything will be ok.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#36

Post by h2aichat »

prymitive wrote: post #24

I need to write code because otherwise LLMs will write too much code, it’s only when you fully understand the problem you can generalise it enough to not end up with 10k lines and 5 abstraction layers for “hello world”. LLMs are token predictors, so all solutions are you tokens, the more problems to solve == the more tokens (code) to output.

If tokens are the problem, SDD is the solution

Re: Why write code in 2026

#37

Post by jurgenburgen »

nmehner wrote: post #16

"It’s about attention and understanding. To keep my attention, I must go beyond ‘read code’ like a passive observer of agents from afar. To really connect with the architecture of the system, it helps to truly experience the code" I guess the funny answer that is behind this sentence is: You have to train your own mental model. We always argue about code in a very abstract and logical manner. But when coding the subc…

> For LLMs to be really helpful, they have to take over complete maintenance of the code. So you can treat them like an external library: Just assume it works.

We already tried this with humans. It works so poorly that it got the derogatory name “ivory tower architect”. It usually results in theoretical designs that are unworkable in the actual system, implementation teams (or LLMs) that work around the architecture and a lot of slowing down of velocity as the architect and implementers argue past each other.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#38

Post by ataru »

h2aichat wrote: post #35

It seems to me that AI won the code Battle and that humans are just trying to justify the defeat. I will relax and wait for the Next AI generation to see how it fixed its problems. May be, everything will be ok.

I've got a coin that answers questions. You have to give it a heads or tails query, then flip the coin, and it returns an answer. It's incredible. Now, it doesn't get the right answer every single time, but we're all learning how to use the new coin technology, and this is only the first generation of coin. The next model of coin is going to be even better. Soon we're not going to need humans any more, for any question we have, we'll be able to use the coin.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#39

Post by saghm »

cresting wrote: post #33

AI is a tool. Learn how to use it! Interesting article btw

> AI is a tool. Learn how to use it!

If you think that everyone agrees on the "correct" way to use it, you're mistaken. If you think that your way is the best possible way to use it, you're arrogant. And if you think that the way you think is correct is obvious and that everyone should already know that's the right way, you're delusional.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#40

Post by zelphirkalt »

jurgenburgen wrote: post #37
nmehner wrote: post #16

"It’s about attention and understanding. To keep my attention, I must go beyond ‘read code’ like a passive observer of agents from afar. To really connect with the architecture of the system, it helps to truly experience the code" I guess the funny answer that is behind this sentence is: You have to train your own mental model. We always argue about code in a very abstract and logical manner. But when coding the subc…

> For LLMs to be really helpful, they have to take over complete maintenance of the code. So you can treat them like an external library: Just assume it works. We already tried this with humans. It works so poorly that it got the derogatory name “ivory tower architect”. It usually results in theoretical designs that are unworkable in the actual system, implementation teams (or LLMs) that work around the architecture…

This happens when the architect is out of touch. If the architect themselves works on the code, writes code, deals with the imposed restrictions, then the chances of that happening is much lower. Assuming, that they are a good architect.
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