If that is the ultimate outcome, I assure you that your insistence on not using not only is not going to protect you - you'll be the first to be unemployed.
I don't really get the sentiment. If you're in engineering/computers, you are fundamentally in the business of replacing people with technology. Cloud solutions resulted in people in IT/dev ops losing their jobs. So much SW out there has displaced real people in the last 5 decades.
Do you want to go back to the days of dealing with switchboard operators to make phone calls?
this is kind of a weird position to take. you're the captain, you're the person reviewing the code the LLM (agent or not) generates, you're the one asking for the code you want, you're in charge of deciding how much effort to put in to things, and especially which things are most worth your effort.
all this agent stuff sounded stupid to me until I tried it out in the last few weeks, and personally, it's been great - I give a not-that-detailed explanation for what I want, point it at the existing code and get back a patch to review once I'm done making my coffee. sometimes it's fine to just apply, sometimes I don't like a variable name or whatever, sometimes it doesn't fit in with the other stuff so I get it to try again, sometimes (<< 10% of the time) it's crap. the experience is pretty much like being a senior dev with a bunch of very eager juniors who read very fast.
anyway, obviously do whatever you want, but deriding something you've not looked in to isn't a hugely thoughtful process for adapting to a changing world.
If I have to review all code code it's writing, I'd rather write it myself (maybe with the help of an LLM).
> anyway, obviously do whatever you want, but deriding something you've not looked in to isn't a hugely thoughtful process for adapting to a changing world.
I have tried it. Not sure I want to be part of such world, unfortunately.
> the experience is pretty much like being a senior dev with a bunch of very eager juniors who read very fast.
I... don't want that. Juniors just slow me down because I have to check what they did and fix their mistakes.
(this is in the context of professional software development, not making scripts, tinkering etc)
> I... don't want that. Juniors just slow me down because I have to check what they did and fix their mistakes.
> (this is in the context of professional software development, not making scripts, tinkering etc)
I understand the sentiment. A few months ago they wanted us to move fast and dumped us (originally 2 developers) with 4 new people who have very little real world coding experience. Not fun, and very stressful.
However, keep in mind that in many workplaces, handling junior devs poorly means one of two things:
1. If you have some abstruse domain expertise, and it's OK that only 1-2 people work on it, you'll be relegated to doing that. Sadly, most workplaces don't have such tasks.
2. You'll be fantastic in your output. Your managers will like you. But they will not promote you. After some point, they expect you to be a leverage multiplier - if you can get others to code really well, the overall team productivity will exceed that of any superstar (and no, I don't believe 10x programmers exist in most workplaces).
> Normal LLM use, fine, but I am not giving up reasoning.
Ouch! Reminds me of:
- I'm never going to use cell phones. I care about voice quality (me decades ago)
- I'm never going to use VoIP. I care about voice quality (everyone but me 2 decades ago).
- I'm never going to use a calculator. I am not going to give up on reasoning.
- I'm never going to let my kids play with <random other ethnicity>. I care about good manners.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma
I'm never going to use the metaverse.
I'm never going to use use Blockchain.
I'm never going to use use NFTs.
Sure, keep slowly offloading more and more of your brain to technology. Until you won't be needed anymore.
If that is the ultimate outcome, I assure you that your insistence on not using not only is not going to protect you - you'll be the first to be unemployed.
I don't really get the sentiment. If you're in engineering/computers, you are fundamentally in the business of replacing people with technology. Cloud solutions resulted in people in IT/dev ops losing their jobs. So much SW out there has displaced real people in the last 5 decades.
Do you want to go back to the days of dealing with switchboard operators to make phone calls?
this is kind of a weird position to take. you're the captain, you're the person reviewing the code the LLM (agent or not) generates, you're the one asking for the code you want, you're in charge of deciding how much effort to put in to things, and especially which things are most worth your effort.
all this agent stuff sounded stupid to me until I tried it out in the last few weeks, and personally, it's been great - I give a not-that-detailed explanation for what I want, point it at the existing code and get back a patch to review once I'm done making my coffee. sometimes it's fine to just apply, sometimes I don't like a variable name or whatever, sometimes it doesn't fit in with the other stuff so I get it to try again, sometimes (<< 10% of the time) it's crap. the experience is pretty much like being a senior dev with a bunch of very eager juniors who read very fast.
anyway, obviously do whatever you want, but deriding something you've not looked in to isn't a hugely thoughtful process for adapting to a changing world.
If I have to review all code code it's writing, I'd rather write it myself (maybe with the help of an LLM).
> anyway, obviously do whatever you want, but deriding something you've not looked in to isn't a hugely thoughtful process for adapting to a changing world.
I have tried it. Not sure I want to be part of such world, unfortunately.
> the experience is pretty much like being a senior dev with a bunch of very eager juniors who read very fast.
I... don't want that. Juniors just slow me down because I have to check what they did and fix their mistakes.
(this is in the context of professional software development, not making scripts, tinkering etc)
> I... don't want that. Juniors just slow me down because I have to check what they did and fix their mistakes.
> (this is in the context of professional software development, not making scripts, tinkering etc)
I understand the sentiment. A few months ago they wanted us to move fast and dumped us (originally 2 developers) with 4 new people who have very little real world coding experience. Not fun, and very stressful.
However, keep in mind that in many workplaces, handling junior devs poorly means one of two things:
1. If you have some abstruse domain expertise, and it's OK that only 1-2 people work on it, you'll be relegated to doing that. Sadly, most workplaces don't have such tasks.
2. You'll be fantastic in your output. Your managers will like you. But they will not promote you. After some point, they expect you to be a leverage multiplier - if you can get others to code really well, the overall team productivity will exceed that of any superstar (and no, I don't believe 10x programmers exist in most workplaces).
What's your definition of "agents" there?