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Why write code in 2026

softwaredoug.com

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Re: Why write code in 2026

#111

Post by bigmattystyles »

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.

That’s why even though 99% of my work is C#, llms have made it so I can finally call myself a low-level programmer, which I’ve always aspired to. I didn’t even have to do anything.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#112

Post by softwaredoug »

supermdguy wrote: post #102

“Do you know what the industry term for a project specification that is comprehensive and precise enough to generate a program? Code. It’s called code.” - CommitStrip ( https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/1p70bk8/sp... ) I think if you’re doing it right, the core of your code should be the simplest expression of the underlying business logic. Of course there’s always going to be supporting layers, and m…

My other article on this topic advocates for using code over specs :)

It’s ok to talk to the agent in code. Or create examples for it to follow.

https://softwaredoug.com/blog/2026/07/04/write-code-not-spec...

Re: Why write code in 2026

#113

Post by deadbabe »

devin wrote: post #93
deadbabe wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's there to advance to? Without a revolutionary new platform to build apps on that no one has ever developed for before, there is basically no reason to believe there is any software left that has some business or economic value that hasn't already been written.

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.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#114

Post by rawling »

softwaredoug wrote: post #100
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…

I’m finding it all boils down to cognitive differences. Some people find code easier to read than the English description. It’s more precise and many experienced devs can scan it and know what’s happening Many other people can’t read code. Or they find English easier to read than code. Thats not a knock on anyone. Maybe the latter will rule the world because the former focuses too much on irrelevant details. Or maybe…

Sure, read the English description.

How can you be sure that's what the code the LLM wrote actually does?

Re: Why write code in 2026

#115

Post by jv22222 »

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.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#116

Post by [deleted] »

rawling wrote: post #114
softwaredoug wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m finding it all boils down to cognitive differences. Some people find code easier to read than the English description. It’s more precise and many experienced devs can scan it and know what’s happening Many other people can’t read code. Or they find English easier to read than code. Thats not a knock on anyone. Maybe the latter will rule the world because the former focuses too much on irrelevant details. Or maybe…

Sure, read the English description. How can you be sure that's what the code the LLM wrote actually does?

[deleted]

Re: Why write code in 2026

#117

Post by ekidd »

ryandvm wrote: post #78
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…

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; I believe essentially all the assembly worked correctly on the first try.

I have feelings about this, but I'm not pretending it isn't real.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#118

Post by softwaredoug »

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.

Do you like to look at code? I’m finding it’s really just a personal preference. And honestly not worth getting worked up about either way.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#119

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

XenophileJKO wrote: post #92
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm probably behind on using AI and need to get more up to speed Same. My difficulty is that for the past 8 years I've been working for (tiiiiny) SaaS business where I don't have anyone I can simply ask in-person "hey, can you show me how to 'do' all this newfangled AI agentic team coding?"; so my only direct-exposure is with the painful Copilot sidebar chat, which I now find myself allergic to. So let's see elsewh…

I don't understand this. A skill critical to software engineering is learning how to learn. Just download Claude Code (or open alternative) and try to make things. See how it fails or succeeds. Look at the supported features, try them out, think about how you might use them in your workflow. Before you know it, you'll be proficient. You have to learn how to self-teach.

I agree with you - but I’m the one with an anxiety disorder here.

Re: Why write code in 2026

#120

Post by mochapwns »

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…

Pretty sure Casey Muratori and Demetri Spanos cover why in one of their videos online.

Less about “trusting” the llm and more about how complex it is to work with binaries due to machine code being different per machine and hard to interpret the context of the code as well as offsets.

In that sense because high level languages come with the ability to add context to what code does. It’s like the understanding a human has when given decompiled C code ghidra gives you vs C source code a developer wrote.

Also the compiler helps the llm write “compiled / working code”, if it just spat out machine code it most likely not even run at all.

But yea generally if you can’t write code at all, reviewing it is even harder.

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