Comment by johngladtj
2 months ago
This.
Frankly I don't want to spend 2 hours reading documentation just to find out some arcane incantation that gets the computer to do what I want it to do.
The interesting part of programming to me is designing the logic. It's the 'this, then that, except when this' flow that I'm really interested in, not the search for some obscure library that has some function that will parse this csv.
Llms are great for that, and let me get away from the pointless grind and into the things that I enjoy and are actually providing value.
The pair programming is also a super good thing. I work best when I can spitball and throw out random ideas and get quick feedback. Llms let me do that without bothering others who have their own work to do.
> Frankly I don't want to spend 2 hours reading documentation just to find out some arcane incantation that gets the computer to do what I want it to do
Then you are just straight up not cut out to be a software developer
The existence of LLMs may reduce the need to slog through documentation, but it will not remove that need
You're welcome to believe what you will, but the fact is I've written code that serves a purpose and provides value to those businesses, and at the end of the day that's is all that matters, not some arbitrary purity test you just made up.
The purpose of programming is to provide value for people, not to read documents.
This isn't some arbitrary purity test
There is more to "providing value" than simply producing working code
Does it have known security exploits built in that you have no idea about because you couldn't be bothered to read documentation?
Is the "value" you provided extremely temporary because someone is going to come along and exploit your shitty LLM generated code to steal all of your client's customer data?
Software Engineering isn't just about writing code it is about understanding what you're building because if you don't, other people will exploit that