As an engineer who bills by the hour, I like how LLMs are affecting codebases.
I've been preaching the benefits of well designed code for a long time, explaining that 10x engineers exist but only if the codebase permits... Nobody got it. Now when people start with a poorly architected project and the AI starts generating slop code on top at a rapid rate, they finally learn the lesson I've been trying to get across. The effect was always there but AI makes it even stronger and allows people to understand the problem of compounding technical debt faster.
esafak•1mo ago
Conversely, it is a pleasure to watch an LLM effortlessly extend a well-built code base in the existing style.
cryptica•1mo ago
Agreed. I feel vindicated by the fact that others are noticing this too.
On ugly codebases, you have to wrestle with it to make it address the root cause and prevent it from hacking around every problem. It's like playing a horrible game of Whac-a-Mole; completely different experience.
wawhal•1mo ago
I genuinely feel that companies with existing well designed systems with intentional architecture and design patterns will have far more leverage, with AI coming into the picture - as opposed to upcoming systems which are vibe coded from day 1.
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goatlover•1mo ago
> but there’s no real choice here. AI has “happened” to us. The world has become extremely fast and extremely competitive. It’s capitalism. Only performance matters.
It's disturbing how often the economic determinism argument is trotted out that have no choice. The current US administration was voted into office supported by tech billionaires who did not want AI to be regulated. Sounds like they have a choice.
cryptica•1mo ago
I've been preaching the benefits of well designed code for a long time, explaining that 10x engineers exist but only if the codebase permits... Nobody got it. Now when people start with a poorly architected project and the AI starts generating slop code on top at a rapid rate, they finally learn the lesson I've been trying to get across. The effect was always there but AI makes it even stronger and allows people to understand the problem of compounding technical debt faster.
esafak•1mo ago
cryptica•1mo ago
On ugly codebases, you have to wrestle with it to make it address the root cause and prevent it from hacking around every problem. It's like playing a horrible game of Whac-a-Mole; completely different experience.
wawhal•1mo ago
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