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"Code was never the hard part" is an insult to all programmers

blog.senko.net

1–10 of 243 posts

Re: "Code was never the hard part" is an insult to all programmers

#3
I think there is a de-facto distinction between different kind of programmers, we just need a clear names for them. Like, "builders" for folks who ship products and see code as an annoying intermediate step and "engineers" for people who build technically sound software.

Re: "Code was never the hard part" is an insult to all programmers

#4
what is -coding-? only typing down some code? the hard part is always the design part, reading doc, reading other code, understanding the sum of the parts, making choices, until the code to write is (quite) -obvious-.

Probably is a question of terms: there is two things: -design- and -coding- (but could be anything as: building, drilling, turning, traveling..) so to make things without a good design is the regal way to problems, many times is a problem left by others, and in a world more and more complex and fast-changing can only be more and more worst. Hard to say what part is really the hardest, but starting with a bad design is no good.

And now probably LLM will solve some problems, but for sure these tech will create more and more new ones.

https://people.inf.ethz.ch/wirth/Articles/LeanSoftware.pdf

Re: "Code was never the hard part" is an insult to all programmers

#6
post #5

Starts with a rant that appeals to hardcore programmers and then tells them to adapt. Of course he is an AI consultant among other things.

OP here. You're absolutely right, I just want to add that "other things" include being a programmer since the nineties :)

Edit to add: instead of "adapt" (which would imply "embrace AI", which I didn't say), my intent was more along the lines of "be adaptable."

Re: "Code was never the hard part" is an insult to all programmers

#9
> If coding is easy, how come programmers were in high demand, and have demanded large salaries for years (even before ZIRP)?

Because programmers have generally been forced to wear additional, invisible hats that are essential to making the code happen in the first place.

Writing code is not hard. Writing correct code is. Knowing what is correct in a setting with paying customers generally involves interacting with those customers. Either directly or worse. The gigantic salaries paid to the most prolific employees is not due to their ability to write code. It is due to their ability to interrogate the shit out of the customer until they finally reveal the true requirements.

Re: "Code was never the hard part" is an insult to all programmers

#10
post #5

Starts with a rant that appeals to hardcore programmers and then tells them to adapt. Of course he is an AI consultant among other things.

Is what he said wrong? Why don’t you attack his argument rather than his background. Not snark. I want to see the holes in what he says and I literally don’t care about who he is.

You must be anti ai among other things.

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