If it’s a preference question then certainly yes, but how to push back on x productivity boost argument when a company enforce this as policy?
Yes a soft policy but it’s a smart move to encourage the rat race.
Ask HN: Does it still make sense to write code by hand?
31–40 of 50 posts
Re: Ask HN: Does it still make sense to write code by hand?
#32> you do it on your own terms, rather than on the terms of the employer You've setup a condition where essentially every answer is true. I know someone who spins wool and dyes it and makes socks. Does it still make sense? Only once you add in the fact she enjoys. If you're real question is what can be done better by hand in July 2026? afaik optimization problems are still getting superior results from humans. Things…
> If you're real question is what can be done better by hand in July 2026? The answer to that question is "everything". Humans are still noticeably better than LLMs at writing code, and just as fast once you factor in the time it takes to review and correct the LLM.
> just as fast once you factor in the time it takes to review and correct the LLM
Do you have a source for that claim?
Re: Ask HN: Does it still make sense to write code by hand?
#33Yeah, still write by hand.
Even though the translation from English algorithm to code is the "boring" part that an LLM can do, the process of doing that works as a kind of REM sleep where I'm coming up with ways to make the program better
And for a lot of simple tasks, there's plenty of stuff where it's quicker to type a command than an English description of the same thing.
Re: Ask HN: Does it still make sense to write code by hand?
#34I still think I haven’t gotten much more productive than a year ago:
I wrote the barebones, scaffolding, and where I cared about the details. Agents stamped out the rest from those patterns.
Everyone speaks about this stuff in anecdotes. Or heroic attempts to have agent only projects.
But very little actual data on real gains in actual quality as experienced by users? Harder to measure IMO. And may even be subjective to each developer.
Re: Ask HN: Does it still make sense to write code by hand?
#35It's like any other tool. Use it when you need it. We don't insist that HVAC installers use hand-powered drills to "feel closer to the work," but we also don't insist that they use battery-powered drills and impact drivers on every single task. We don't insist that a chef use a Vitamix blender to chop a single onion when a couple seconds with a sharp knife will do, but we certainly wouldn't only use a sharp knife to…
Imagine a carpenter needed to be proficient in hand-saws to use their chainsaw well, and using their chainsaw required knowing details about the wood they were working with, in only the way using a hand-saw gave.
Makes it a littttttle more complicated.
Re: Ask HN: Does it still make sense to write code by hand?
#36> but rather prompting very small tasks after you have made the initial design, something along the lines of "Create a database migration that adds column [x], not null", "add a field to the this form that will accept string value, validate it on the backend against this format, and save it to column [x]". So basically, writing code in plain English.
I find such tasks easier to just do in the programming language directly than describe them in English.
Re: Ask HN: Does it still make sense to write code by hand?
#37When your learning it does and in work no
Re: Ask HN: Does it still make sense to write code by hand?
#38Yes. Someone's gotta create new grist for the LLMs so they don't Habsburg themselves.
Re: Ask HN: Does it still make sense to write code by hand?
#39I do all of my code by hand. I don't even use an LSP. It makes sense as long as it makes sense to you. You don't need to change the way you do things because of some perceived thing you're missing out on. That is what the AI companies want you to feel and think because it benefits them. This applies to more than AI, but programming language choices and more. Heck, it even applies to social issues and politics :) Make…
I am already being forced to use Claude for all coding in my job. All personal projects/code I still write by hand. This has always been the fun part of software development for me.
Which is great and why I started coding too. But for my day job I can’t have an employee deliver 1/4 of the code of someone using AI and ask for a full paycheck.
Re: Ask HN: Does it still make sense to write code by hand?
#40Everyone thinks they’re an expert, but AI is brand new and nobody knows what the fuck they’re doing or what the ramifications are going to be. I see a lot of people cheerfully deskilling. I think it’s going to end up being a costly mistake to employers and employees alike.