This is why I believe we're going to need better tools for reading and exploring codebases
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This is why I believe we're going to need better tools for reading and exploring codebases
"Writing code is easy. Once you have a solution in mind, and have mastered the syntax of your favorite programming language, writing code is easy. Having an LLM write entire functions for you? Even easier. But the hard part isn’t the writing. It’s the reading. It’s the time it takes to load the mental model of the system into your head. That’s where all the cost really is."
Writing Code Is Easy. Reading It Isn’t.
LLM can generate infinite code for us. But it cannot understand it for us. Our new challenge is to build technology that can help us understand as fast as we can generate.
Ibrahim Diallo Blog (idiallo.com)
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This is why I believe we're going to need better tools for reading and exploring codebases
"Writing code is easy. Once you have a solution in mind, and have mastered the syntax of your favorite programming language, writing code is easy. Having an LLM write entire functions for you? Even easier. But the hard part isn’t the writing. It’s the reading. It’s the time it takes to load the mental model of the system into your head. That’s where all the cost really is."
Writing Code Is Easy. Reading It Isn’t.
LLM can generate infinite code for us. But it cannot understand it for us. Our new challenge is to build technology that can help us understand as fast as we can generate.
Ibrahim Diallo Blog (idiallo.com)
It's another way in which LLMs reflect the misprioritisation in dev learning, itself a reflection of the economic dynamics.. we always focused too much on writing code over reading it, and this production line mentality is why anyone would believe a machine that generates code could replace a developer
We're having to fully articulate the skills in building software for the first time
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F myrmepropagandist shared this topic
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It's another way in which LLMs reflect the misprioritisation in dev learning, itself a reflection of the economic dynamics.. we always focused too much on writing code over reading it, and this production line mentality is why anyone would believe a machine that generates code could replace a developer
We're having to fully articulate the skills in building software for the first time
This is my confusion when I talk to people who have been "learning vibe coding" I have them describe what they did and it seems they have an LLM write some provisional code for them then they revise it and fine tune it so that it does what they want.
Which is just... coding. Do they think people code without looking at examples, libraries, specifications?
If they don't do that second part then they probably don't have a program that does what they want and they did not do any coding.