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Tell HN: I Lost Joy of Programming

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Re: Tell HN: I Lost Joy of Programming

#61

Post by AlexeyBrin »

megaloblasto wrote: post #53
AlexeyBrin wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is never just inputing text into an editor. When I write a piece of code, it is just the first draft of what I have in mind. Most of the time I change the code interactively until I'm satisfied. The act of writing the code myself helps in clarifying my ideas.

Are you saying that that is no longer fun with LLMs?

Fun or not fun it is a personal perspective. What I was saying was that when you write code you also think deeply about what you actually write and you have the opportunity to optimize, change ideas and overall improve. A programming language is more precise and succinct than natural language in expressing algorithms/ideas.

Re: Tell HN: I Lost Joy of Programming

#63

Post by marginalia_nu »

add-sub-mul-div wrote: post #54
marginalia_nu wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is capitalism causing this?

Why should labor care about the quality of their work when management also does not because it's hard at the prospect of the largest displacement of labor in history?

Well I believe the thread you're commenting in has answered that question.

Programming is also the field where it's the easiest to strike out on your own. Seizing the means of production in programming amounts to grabbing a $200 laptop.

Re: Tell HN: I Lost Joy of Programming

#65

Post by surgical_fire »

No, because I only use LLMs as code assistants (and I don't think they do that great a job in spitting out code without me needing to review it). Typically I use LLMs to write stuff that K find boring and repetitive (unit tests, glue code for APIs - like JSON mapping for example), Dependency configuration, that sort of thing.

The actual meat I prefer to code myself with minor LLM support (for example, I ask it to review my code).

Re: Tell HN: I Lost Joy of Programming

#66

Post by apwell23 »

osigurdson wrote: post #41
msgodel wrote: post #7

Vibe coding sounds miserable. I use LLMs pretty heavily but never as a replacement for my own mind. I'm glad it exists for the people who can't program but it's much less pleasant than being explicit myself.

For me, vibe coding is becoming more of a niche. I still use it but not that often. I prefer the Codex style workflow in which you do spent a lot more time on specifying things, providing examples and reviewing PRs. Essentially, vibe coding is synchronous as it is necessary to wait around for the LLM to respond. Codex is async and allows you to focus on other things while it is working. The primary issue with async w…

what is 'codex style workflow' ?

Re: Tell HN: I Lost Joy of Programming

#67

Post by PaulRobinson »

Use the LLM to code away the boilerplate if you must, but get stuck in and deal with the novel stuff and get yourself the dopamine hit of doing the hard thing.

Sure, get an LLM to suggest an approach, but how can you feel joy when you've turned yourself into a system architect working with a particularly stupid and relentlessly optimistic bunch of idiots who never really learn?

You can choose how you do your work. You have autonomy. So, choose.

Re: Tell HN: I Lost Joy of Programming

#69

Post by Winsaucerer »

gwbas1c wrote: post #57
Winsaucerer wrote: post #17

Is AI genuinely that good for you all? I can't leave it to its own devices, I have to review everything because (from experience) I don't trust it. I think it's an amazing technological advancement, perhaps will go down as one of the top 10 in the history of our species. But I can't just "fire and forget". And that's not just because its output is often not the best, but also because by doing it myself it causes me t…

> it makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong I'm in the same boat: I'm mostly doing C# in Visual Studio (classic) with co-pilot, and it very rarely gives useful code from prompts. Often times the auto-suggestions are hallucinations, and frequently they interfere with "normal" tab completion. I'm wondering if I'm using the wrong tool, or if Visual Studio (classic) co-pilot is just far behind industry norms?

The main problem I have with auto-suggestions is that they distract my flow of thinking. Suddenly, I go from thinking about my code carefully, to reviewing someone else's code. To the point where I get a bit stressed typing, worrying that if I go too slow, the suggestion will pop up. As you may guess, I therefore have them turned off :)

I am playing with Zed now though, and it has a "subtle" mode for suggestions which is great. When I explicitly want to see them, I press option key. Otherwise, I don't see them.

Re: Tell HN: I Lost Joy of Programming

#70

Post by osigurdson »

apwell23 wrote: post #66
osigurdson wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, vibe coding is becoming more of a niche. I still use it but not that often. I prefer the Codex style workflow in which you do spent a lot more time on specifying things, providing examples and reviewing PRs. Essentially, vibe coding is synchronous as it is necessary to wait around for the LLM to respond. Codex is async and allows you to focus on other things while it is working. The primary issue with async w…

what is 'codex style workflow' ?

OpenAI Codex. You provide it access to your github repo, provide prompts and AGENTS.md and it creates PRs for you.
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