Comment by tptacek
6 days ago
Sure, you need to be able to make the jig. But what does that have to do with anything? Once you do, you have it. Is your point that LLMs are problematic for less-skilled programmers, who need the rote tasks to build up fluency? That's probably true! It doesn't change anything for skilled programmers, though.
> Is your point that LLMs are problematic for less-skilled programmers, who need the rote tasks to build up fluency?
Yes, I think less-skilled programmers are being bombarded with messages that in the future of coding being less-skilled is adequate. What I've seen in today's layoff culture is not something that gives me hope for tomorrows junior developers.
I think there is huge and vast gap between: "mediocre software is good enough" and "as a highly skilled dev I understand when I need to be clever or not". The latter has been true for ages and the former is the feeling AI pushers are pushing.
I think the term "mediocre" represents both poor quality code and boring code and I think this word is chosen because of this ambiguity. I am absolutely onboard with boring code and I'm definitely not okay with mediocre code if it is not reliable, maintainable, and/or readable per the stakeholders.
> It doesn't change anything for skilled programmers, though.
Exactly! Its just another tool. A great one, sure, but we were great devs before AI and we will be great devs after.
These are hard conversations to be have via message boards for sure. Thanks for the time. Would love to grab coffee or a drink and talk more.