As a software engineer, I've always cared about writing good code because I wasn't writing it for computers, I was writing it for other people who also work on it. However, since AI took over a few months ago, I've had doubts about whether this is a wasted effort.
I've been back and forth on this, but after working on a few AI-coded apps, I have, for now, confirmed my belief that it still matters whether the codebase is robust.
Firstly, I believed that it does not matter what's under the hood if it works. But I found that I can't make it work without the code being robust, testable, and maintainable to a certain degree.
Therefore, I am linking my article that explores this a bit more and shares what I think are the three most important points that you should still care about writing good code, which are:
1. AI will train on it - the most long-term reason, most people won't care, but it does affect everyone
2. You still need to do the final touches - it's probably not a good idea to prompt for one-line changes, it's like calling an electrician to change the lightbulb
3. Software is never done, and it should be easy to change - AI will struggle with more tokens, and you with more time, if your code is not of good quality
Anyway, I am just sharing my shower thoughts and hopefully will start an interesting discussion.
100% human written with AI used for spelling!
rvz•1h ago
Yes you should. Good code means you understand it and can fix it.
dmilicic•1h ago
I've been back and forth on this, but after working on a few AI-coded apps, I have, for now, confirmed my belief that it still matters whether the codebase is robust.
Firstly, I believed that it does not matter what's under the hood if it works. But I found that I can't make it work without the code being robust, testable, and maintainable to a certain degree.
Therefore, I am linking my article that explores this a bit more and shares what I think are the three most important points that you should still care about writing good code, which are:
1. AI will train on it - the most long-term reason, most people won't care, but it does affect everyone
2. You still need to do the final touches - it's probably not a good idea to prompt for one-line changes, it's like calling an electrician to change the lightbulb
3. Software is never done, and it should be easy to change - AI will struggle with more tokens, and you with more time, if your code is not of good quality
Anyway, I am just sharing my shower thoughts and hopefully will start an interesting discussion.
100% human written with AI used for spelling!