zlacker

> try it in a language and environment you know nothing about and so aren't tempted to keep taking the wheel.

That's a good insights. Its almost like to use AI tools effectively, one needs to stop caring about the little things you'd get caught up in if you were already familiar and proficient in a stack. Style guidelines, a certain idiomatic way to do things, naming conventions, etc.

A lot like how I've stopped organizing digital files into folders, sub folders etc (along with other content) and now I just just rely on search. Everything is a flat structure, I don't care where its stored or how it's organized as long as I can just search for it, that's what the computer is for, to keep track for me so I don't have to waste time organizing it myself.

Like wise for the code Generative AI produces. I don't need to care about the code itself. As long as its correct, not insecure, and performant, it's fine.

It's not 100% there yet, I still do have to go in and touch the code, but ideally I shouldn't have to, nor should I have to care what the actual code looks like, just the result of it. Let the computer manage that, not me. My role should be the system design and specification, not writing the code.

>>theweb+(OP)
How do you know the code is correct, isn’t insecure, and performant, without caring about the code?

>>jimbok+56
Not a solved problem yet, admittedly. Performance can be measured externally, but ideally we'll get to a point where certain criteria can be automatically tested/AI output be checked without manual intervention, or even before the AI actually puts text to editor.

>>theweb+(OP)
> Its almost like to use AI tools effectively, one needs to stop caring about the little things you'd get caught up in if you were already familiar and proficient in a stack. Style guidelines, a certain idiomatic way to do things, naming conventions, etc.

This makes me a little sad. Part of the joy of writing software is expressing yourself through caring about these little things. Stylistic coherence, adhering to consistent naming conventions, aligning code blocks, consistently applying patterns, respecting the way the language and platform's APIs work together rather than fighting it... heck, even tiny things like alphabetizing header declarations. None of these things make the finished product better/faster/more reliable, but all of these demonstrate something about the author: What he believes in. That he is willing to sand, polish and beautify the back of the cabinet that nobody is going to see. As Steve Jobs said:

    "Even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through."

If you surrender to the AI, you're no longer carrying the aesthetic and quality all the way through. You're abandoning the artistry. You're living with the barf because it works, and because it's much harder to go back and beautify it than it is to build it beautifully from the start.