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Why write code in 2026

softwaredoug.com

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Re: Why write code in 2026

#121

Post by notnullorvoid »

mrweasel wrote: post #73

Apparently it's not obvious to everyone, but if you can't write code, you can't review it. I do know people, and companies, that says: "So what, we ask Claude to write the code, Codex will then do the review". The thing that then strikes me as odd is that they still ask for the code in Python, Java, or some other high level language.... Why? Just ask Claude to dump out assembly, or a compiled binary, but no, they don…

No defense for not writing or reading code if want to call yourself a software engineer or programmer.

However I do think there is reason to use Java or Python (as much as I loathe both) they have GC, and it'd be a lot easier for AI to fuck up memory safety in something like assembly or C.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#122

Post by whattheheckheck »

mrweasel wrote: post #73

Apparently it's not obvious to everyone, but if you can't write code, you can't review it. I do know people, and companies, that says: "So what, we ask Claude to write the code, Codex will then do the review". The thing that then strikes me as odd is that they still ask for the code in Python, Java, or some other high level language.... Why? Just ask Claude to dump out assembly, or a compiled binary, but no, they don…

Ask the ai what the game theory is for training employees... the Nash equilibrium is under training and self funded certification/training for devs in low trust environments.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#123

Post by whattheheckheck »

deadbabe wrote: post #113
devin wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think we're "done", you have no imagination.

What are you gonna make? Yet another CRUD app? An API subscription? A game? A mobile app? We’ve created software for virtually every place we can put software. There’s nothing new. It’s like bridges. We’ve seen all the ways bridges can be built by now. There’s nothing new left to discover.

Why did we even need bridges in the first place

Re: Why write code in 2026

#124

Post by [deleted] »

jv22222 wrote: post #115

At this point I haven't looked at code for many months. Before that, I spent 4 years hand coding a Google Docs competitor in JS without any libraries. My brain feels equally as exercised (in fact more so as I am not as good at agentic coding as I was at real coding) But now I'm making highly polished Mac OS apps and I really like that move from JS. I feel... conflicted.

[deleted]

Re: Why write code in 2026

#125

Post by LPisGood »

deadbabe wrote: post #113
devin wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think we're "done", you have no imagination.

What are you gonna make? Yet another CRUD app? An API subscription? A game? A mobile app? We’ve created software for virtually every place we can put software. There’s nothing new. It’s like bridges. We’ve seen all the ways bridges can be built by now. There’s nothing new left to discover.

When Gutenberg invented the printing press, he could not have predicted the teleprompter. Now that code is easy to generate, it’s plausible that we will use much, much more of it than before.

It’s also a bit ironic to imagine that we’re at the end of new software ideas on a site owned(?) by YC.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#126

Post by girvo »

softwaredoug wrote: post #85
avaer wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes but I always have to be on the lookout for this meta pattern that leads to code bloat. You don't! Have you tried adding rules/automations that make it explicit to review and fix the code for bloat (per your taste, with examples if needed)? With this setup + a good frontier model you will never have to be on the lookout for code bloat. You can even get the agent to send you text message with the LOC-- if it make…

How do you arrive at a failure case to measure without looking at the code? How do you establish sane patterns when you’re in an exploratory /architectural mode? You could do this in English, sure, but many of us do this more efficiently and precisely in code in a way that lets us be careful, internalize details, and add measurement + QA to ensure it’s adhered to by agents or humans. I’m not saying to write all the c…

> I’m not saying to write all the code. I’m saying it’s useful to write 5% of it. Then let an Agent stamp out / rewrite the rest

100% agreed. And it leads to far better LLM output and lower token usage, too, I find.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#127

Post by Iakeman »

softwaredoug wrote: post #76
avaer wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but this just seems like underspecification. In my experience as both a team leader and an "agentic engineer" (ugh), I try to blame myself for the lack of clarity of my asks, rather than the person/agent for making the "wrong" choice. I'm sure plenty of meat humans out there would make the same mistake (sorry, you said to use local storage boss!). You might give them a scolding. And maybe document that policy.…

Yes but I always have to be on the lookout for this meta pattern that leads to code bloat. In this case things mostly sorta worked and the simplest way to see the problem was look at the code. And try to take it apart a bit to see where the problem was. I felt I arrived at a better pattern I could trust that the agent could use much more efficiently this way than asking the agent to do it. I could then test that the…

[dead]

Re: Why write code in 2026

#128

Post by singpolyma3 »

b112 wrote: post #45
nmehner wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it was only "my" system without any integrations, I might agree. But currently e.g. I am working on an MES/Scada layer that integrates data from a load of different machines in a factory. These machines are from China, Korea, Germany, Sweden ... Upwards there is an ERP integration (and some other systems). Sometimes machines are updated and suddenly behave differently. Giving error messages in Chinese. The ERP has…

And here's the thing... juniors become seniors become experts, by doing this their entire career. By having an understanding built during their entire career. Right now we live in a fairly-land of mixed capacity. LLMs being used in parallel with skilled people. But as time progresses, there will be no more skilled people, because no one will learn and develop those skills. If you're in the world of LLMs now, you are…

There's some good thinking about this in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_the_Sky

Re: Why write code in 2026

#129

Post by dude250711 »

ekidd wrote: post #117
ryandvm wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't have Claude write assembly because there is no training corpus on people making CRUD apps in assembly. I'm as hateful of LLMs hollowing out the job market as the next guy, but the reality is the frontier LLMs are really good at writing anything that's been done and documented on the Internet a million times and unfortunately most of what software devs have been doing the last couple decades is shitting out…

Claude is perfectly capable of writing assembly. Here's a working (basic) Prolog interpreter that Claude Fable 5 wrote in WebAssembly in 61 minutes for $16.75 in token costs: https://github.com/emk/fable-wasm-prolog/blob/main/prolog.wa... WebAssembly is slightly easier than real assembly, but here Fable used WASM GC extensions, which are poorly documented and not yet super common. Fable didn't even need to debug it;…

The guys with unlimited Fable/Mythos access are for some reason incapable of producing a flawless Claude Code app built entirely in native assemblies.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#130

Post by erikschoster »

deadbabe wrote: post #113
devin wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think we're "done", you have no imagination.

What are you gonna make? Yet another CRUD app? An API subscription? A game? A mobile app? We’ve created software for virtually every place we can put software. There’s nothing new. It’s like bridges. We’ve seen all the ways bridges can be built by now. There’s nothing new left to discover.

> There’s nothing new left to discover.

It's the end of history. What could we possibly discover about a series of technologies that are already nearly 100 years old now?

I've heard people say that various things are "solved" now because of LLMs too -- programming included. This implies we've "solved" thinking. I'm worried about these sentiments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_history

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