frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

Ask HN: Techniques for learning things quickly using coding agents?

2•throwaw12•5h ago
Lately, I am finding myself using coding agents primarily for investigating and learning new topics, which include:

    * understanding how specific module works in codebase
    * overall architecture in the new codebase
    * onboarding faster in the new codebase
    * researching a topic
    * analyzing video content/meeting transcripts to quickly catchup with the topic
and so on.

My current workflow is just to point out to repository or folder with transcripts and ask agent to extract insights (assuming it will first analyze the content, then suggests ways and whats to extract) and reading bunch of output markdown files.

But I feel like this workflow can be improved, but no idea where to start, what are the cognitive methods and strategies.

How are you doing it? What strategies, skills do you employ to quickly learn new things

* in this context. learning == primarily onboarding in a new topic, because learning and being productive on anything takes time

Comments

lemonademan•4h ago
Moving from generating code to mapping code is already a major leap. But to break through the "feed data and read Markdown" plateau, you must transition from passive reading to active, structured prompting.

You can achieve this by moving from summarize to deconstruct. For example, standard agents default to generic summaries. You must force the agent to act like a senior engineer conducting a code review or a research lead. You can do this by prompting for architectural boundaries and friction points, not just descriptions, by asking "why", not "what".

You could also use tactical prompts for Code onboarding. An example prompt would be, "trace a single user request from the entry point API down to the database. List every module it touches and where mutations happen."

This is how I would do it if I were in your shoes, but there are certainly other methods that could be better suited for you. Either way, I hope this was at least useful in some way.

The open source DOCX editor submitted to HN a few weeks ago has been deleted

58•gcanyon•4h ago•36 comments

Ask HN: Is "no source code was copied" still a sufficient copyright defense?

51•oscgam1•11h ago•67 comments

Roblox parental controls are a dystopian security disaster

17•notsure357•7h ago•3 comments

Tell Zillow: Fee-Simple vs. Leasehold Filter

3•HoldOnAMinute•4h ago•1 comments

Ask HN: Where is the programming profession going?

135•syntaxbush•1d ago•149 comments

Ask HN: Which AI concepts are here to stay, and which will churn?

3•datsci_est_2015•5h ago•3 comments

Ask HN: Techniques for learning things quickly using coding agents?

2•throwaw12•5h ago•1 comments

Ask HN: Who remembers Fry's Electronics – the "church" of IT people?

6•netfortius•15h ago•4 comments

Ask HN: Norway bans AI in elementary schools

14•mellosty•1d ago•12 comments

Ask HN: How much coding should beginners learn in the AI era?

33•JohnDSDev•2d ago•45 comments

Ask HN: How is GPU power draw measured at scale?

5•anax32•15h ago•2 comments

I feel like VSCode is falling apart

11•othmanosx•1d ago•13 comments

Ask HN: Why does every AI demo sound perfect but real world deployment always

7•VaderAi•19h ago•9 comments

Tell HN: OpenAI has started putting ads on paid programs

113•shantnutiwari•1d ago•64 comments

Decoupling Compute and Memory for Async GPUs

8•yiyingzhang•1d ago•2 comments

Ask HN: What surprised you about Estonia e-Residency and running an Estonian OÜ?

80•jvilalta•1d ago•70 comments

Ask HN: What home printer do you use/recommend?

18•niyazpk•3d ago•22 comments

Ask HN: Will programmers write more efficient code during the memory shortage?

153•amichail•1w ago•246 comments

My website gets more attacks than human visitors

5•tommy2970•1d ago•4 comments

Ask HN: Quickbooks Alternative?

5•bix6•1d ago•2 comments

Google AI overview for "keynesian economics" is written in Korean

4•something765478•1d ago•4 comments

Ask HN: Do you thank your agents when they did a good job?

7•ex-aws-dude•1d ago•12 comments

As; HN: I was curious why MTP affects PP TPS in llama.cpp. My PoC recovers it?

3•i_am_rocoe•1d ago•1 comments

Ask HN: What are the hardest problems AWS Lambda MicroVMs can solve now?

6•iaziz786•2d ago•2 comments

Ask HN: Is anyone using the A2A protocol?

96•asim•1w ago•45 comments

Ask HN: Anthropic banned me from using Claude Code and I don't know what to do

81•ayi•3d ago•93 comments

Ask HN: What tools are you using for AI-assisted code review?

26•agos•1w ago•31 comments

How to find AI-conservative companies to work for?

20•tossitawayplz•3d ago•12 comments

Got access to Gemini's actual thinking

4•StizzurpXDD•1d ago•0 comments

Ask HN: Yahoo deleted all my emails. Now what?

15•neya•2d ago•13 comments