r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming • Hacker News Board

Re: r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming

#131

Post by yoz-y » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 8:38 AM UTC

redox99 wrote: post #83

yoz-y wrote: post #61

Good decision. AI programming is fundamentally different from programming and as such the discussions merit to have separate forums. If r/programming wants to be the one solely focusing on programming then power to them. Discussing both in combination also makes sense, but the value of reddit is having a subreddit for anything and “just programming” should be on the list.

> AI programming is fundamentally different from programming It's really not. Maybe vibecoding, in its original definition (not looking at generated code) is fundamentally different. But most people are not vibe coding outside of pet projects, at least yet.

Hopefully this does not devolve into ‘nuh-uh’-‘it is too’ but I disagree.

Even putting aside the AI engineering part where you use a model as a brick in your program.

Classic programming is based on assumption that there is a formal strict input language. When programming I think in that language, I hold the data structures and connections in my head. When debugging I have intuition on what is going on because I know how the code works.

When working on somebody else’s code base I bisect, I try to find the abstractions.

When coding with AI this does not happen. I can check the code it outputs but the speed and quantity does not permit the same level of understanding unless I eschew all benefits of using AI.

When coding with AI I think about the context, the spec, the general shape of the code. When the code doesn’t build or crashes the first reflex is not to look at the code. It’s prompting AI to figure it out.

Re: r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming

#132

Post by csin » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 8:55 AM UTC

huhkerrf wrote: post #126

csin wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was inevitable given it's a top 7 most popular site. The reality is, the masses, the real world, the average person. Is an asshole. It doesn't reflect in the real world, because people learn to hide their assholeness at a very early age (Or they learn how to get punched in the face). On an anonymous forum. You don't have to hide your assholeness. Frankly it's amazing the site never devolved into 4chan. I attribute…

While that may be true, there's a certain personality attached to reddit power users that is particularly odious.

You mind showing me an example of a "power user".

I've never really paid attention to usernames. Like I'll notice someone's name, out of familiarity.

But if I noticed you, it's because I liked what you've written in the past.

If I hated someone's writing... I wouldn't think about them at all.

Re: r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming

#133

Post by sph » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 8:56 AM UTC

minimaxir wrote: post #82

sph wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Favourite genres of posts on HN in the past 2 years: * “I am bullish about AI” * “I am an AI skeptic, [long rambling], but overall, I am bullish about AI” It’s amazing how even criticism of the technology somehow ends up being a hype post. At least there are still places on the Internet where we can have a serious discussion about the downsides.

As someone who wrote recently wrote the latter post ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47183527 ), the more nuanced approach that "AI has good and bad things" is a more real-world reflective approach than an absolute "AI is good" or "AI is bad", and at the least it's more conductive for civil discussion.

I disagree, but I am the outlier here.

I prefer strong opinions than the academic conclusion that a thing has some good parts and some bad parts. I feel 99% of modern essays are afraid to take a stance about anything, and it makes for uninteresting reading and even less interesting discussion.

To be fair, my issue with the born-again AI skeptic genre of posts is that it's basically clickbait. As if being a skeptic at one point makes your argument stronger, proving that the hype is real, and one should pay attention. It's intellectually dishonest, even if meant in earnest.

(Your post history shows that you have been anything but an AI skeptic. Case in point about intellectual dishonesty.)

Re: r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming

#134

Post by Eezee » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 9:04 AM UTC

altmanaltman wrote: post #88

tovej wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have yet to run into any serious project in the wild that is using LLMs for development. I have seen vibecoded intern prototypes that took half a day to vet and dismiss because they were completely useless. I'm sure your experience is different, but you can't _seriously_ claim we're "past the point" of not using LLMs for programming. Vibecoding is a fundamentally different kind of activity than actual programming.…

> I have yet to run into any serious project in the wild that is using LLMs for development. How about Claude Code? 100% of it was vibe-coded according to its creator.[1] Google and Microsoft also claim a lot of their internal code is AI-generated now. [2] [3] Naturally, none of the big tech companies will just release a pure vibe-coded project due to structural reasons, but you also _seriously_ can't claim that seri…

I don't know if Claude Code is actually a great example. If you have used it for longer periods of time, you will have noticed how insanely buggy it is. And for every bug that they finally fix, there seems to be a new one introduced. I don't even mind vibecoding. I have vibecoded a couple of tools that me and my coworkers use every day to make our lives easier but I'm not going to pretend they are anywhere close to something that I would release to the public.

Re: r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming

#135

Post by southerntofu » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 9:13 AM UTC

yoz-y wrote: post #107

southerntofu wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are being overly dismissive of a mindset you obviously don't understand. Of course being anti-AI is about decent living conditions for humans. Most of us don't believe in singularity or Matrix-style threats. But current AI is actively destroying our breathable/livable planet by drawing unmatched quantities of resources (see also DRAM shortage, etc), all the while exploiting millions of non-union workers across th…

You have misinterpreted my comment. But I concede that I should have written it more clearly. I divide anti-AI people into two groups. Those who don’t like AI because of what it is, and those who don’t like it because of its impact on society. Naturally there is an overlap. Luddites were not opposed to the technology. So the comparison to them is only correct for the latter group. Not talking about LLMs on a forum is…

Sorry for misinterpreting your original comment.

I'm not really convinced there's people who don't like AI "because of what it is". I mean, because of what it is, beyond any social/political considerations.

The only case i know of that is when there was an open letter with Sam Altman and other AI investors calling out the existential danger of AI, which in my view was a way to divert the debate from political questions to hypothetical Matrix/Terminator questions about consciousness and singularity.

Re: r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming

#136

Post by chneu » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 9:16 AM UTC

redox99 wrote: post #83

yoz-y wrote: post #61

Good decision. AI programming is fundamentally different from programming and as such the discussions merit to have separate forums. If r/programming wants to be the one solely focusing on programming then power to them. Discussing both in combination also makes sense, but the value of reddit is having a subreddit for anything and “just programming” should be on the list.

> AI programming is fundamentally different from programming It's really not. Maybe vibecoding, in its original definition (not looking at generated code) is fundamentally different. But most people are not vibe coding outside of pet projects, at least yet.

>But most people are not vibe coding outside of pet projects, at least yet.

Major corporations have had outages thanks to AI slop code. Lol the idea that people aren't vibe coding outside of pet projects is hilarious.

Re: r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming

#137

Post by austin-cheney » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 9:27 AM UTC

jyrkesh wrote: post #44

I know this snarky, I'm sorry ahead of time. But I don't know how else to make this point... The fact that the people running r/progamming don't know not to wait until April 2 to publish this tells me that they don't have real-world experience in shipping software in a business environment. We are SO past the point of software being developed without LLMs at _all_, the trend line is never going to reverse. I don't un…

This seems to be a matter of industry and a perspective, like saying everyone loves chocolate.

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

I have no reason to believe AI is used as much or as widely as you claim.

In my industry AI is fully available and was almost forced on us, and yet nobody is using it. The process of using AI and then scrutinizing the output is just more work than doing it manually. The most I encounter AI is when running job interviews and watching candidates read AI generated answers off a screen.

My industry also tends to skew much older than where I came from previously writing JavaScript full time. We are also fully remote with lots of status meetings. If I were less confident in my ability to communicate in writing maybe I would be more inclined to use AI.

I also don’t really envision AI accomplishing my multitude of daily managerial and administrative assignments that I have in addition to agile stories and writing code. Comparatively, writing code is the trivial part.

Re: r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming

#138

Post by maplethorpe » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 9:46 AM UTC

mudkipdev wrote: post #16

There can't be any interesting discussion about AI programming. Every conversation boils down to what skill files you use, or how Opus 4.6 compares to Codex, or how well you can manage 16 parallel agents.

In my experience Opus 4.6 is the best.

Re: r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming

#139

Post by 59nadir » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 10:16 AM UTC

Deeds67 wrote: post #125

59nadir wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, fair enough. 1.5k is reasonable. Have you tried just writing it yourself instead? It's likely it'll be less than 1k lines and you should have no problems writing an implementation yourself if you understand the structure of the LLM version.

Why would I write it myself? I use Claude code 12 hours a day and I'm really confident with want I'm able to build with it. I use it at work with incredible results. Spec driven development with harnessing is super powerful, I'll never be writing large features hy hand again. Look at what I'm able to achieve in my free time after work https://opennoodle.de Would've never had the time without my army of agents

Heh, fair enough. To me this comes off as "I'm unable to write it myself [possibly because I've outsourced my thinking too much]", to be honest, but I'm not going to argue; you're the one who presumably wants this code to end up in that repository.

I wouldn't really consider (what is likely) sub-1kloc a "large feature", but to each their own.

Re: r/programming bans all discussion of LLM programming

#140

Post by arw0n » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 10:40 AM UTC

mrcsharp wrote: post #108

johnfn wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There genuinely is a lot of interesting discussion to be had about LLMs, and I know this is true because I discuss things with my coworkers daily and learn a lot. I do admit that conversation online about LLMs is frequently lacking. I think it's a bit like politics - everyone has an opinion about it, so unfortunately online discourse devolves to the lowest common denominator. Hey guys, have you noticed that if you us…

For me, almost every single time a conversation like this happens in real life it boils down to the one side claiming that "This is the future" and "Don't get left behind" followed by a torrent of hype and buzzwords. So no, there is no interesting conversations to be had about LLM programming anymore.

> "This is the future"

Yeah, that's silly, it is already the present!

Some interesting conversation one can have with coworkers specifically:

1. How should code review and responsibility for code be updated to a) increase velocity, b) keep quality and c) keep reviewers from burnout. There are plenty scenarios in which vibe coding a component in an afternoon is the correct choice, even if it is buggy, insecure, and no one really understands it.

2. Which parts of the codebase work well with code assistants, which don't? Why? What could be changed to make it easier? In my experience, Claude Code sometimes loses its mind on infra topics. It is also not very good at complex, interconnected services (humans aren't either).

3. Which tasks could be offloaded to agents to save everyone time and sanity? - Creatig Jira Tickets from meeting transcripts is an obvious one, collecting and curating bug reports another one.

4. How should we design systems to better work for coding agents? Does it influence our tech choices? Should it influence them?

5. Is AI a net positive or negative for security?

And so much more. The last topic in particular is incredibly important, and things are developing so fast that you can probably have a new conversation on it every two weeks.