Dave Rahardja
@drahardja@sfba.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

But WHY do we need to understand the motivation behind a pile of code? Because it reduces amount of COMPLEXITY we need to hold in our mind. Understanding an original author’s mindset helps to define a direction of development that will very likely yield successful results that are harmonious with existing code.

And as any senior software dev knows, complexity is the greatest enemy of engineering, and anything that helps constrain the beast increases the likelihood of producing error-free progress.

AI is great at producing code of little consequence, things so basic or throwaway that no deep understanding is needed to maintain it. To me, that constrains its practical use to generating basically SCAFFOLDING and BOILERPLATE upon which your real code is built, essentially making the (fancy and custom) GRID PAPER on which you will actually inscribe your design. Let it write your for-loops, but don’t let it write the functions it calls.

#ai#softwareEngineering#softwareDevelopment

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Dave Rahardja
@drahardja@sfba.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago
#AI coding tools can be time-saving automation at the hands of an already-senior developer, but that’s only because it utterly relies on the motivation and depth of experience already found in the HUMAN that’s using it to shape it into something worthwhile. Like a seasoned musician toying with analog synthesizers and sequencers, finding serendipity in the semi-random stream of patterns that are suitable to be molded into actual works requires a human editor. AI itself cannot offer that wisdom.

AI will never be a replacement for expertise. It does not compensate for a lack of skill. It offers nothing to replace an understanding of the fundamental principles of the craft. It will not turn a junior engineer into a senior one.

And it will not create a complex product, at least not one that won’t crumble the moment you have to maintain it.

#softwareEngineering#softwareDevelopment