N Likely ♞

Chaotic Neutral INTJ Pragmatist Mage/Thief Mechwarrior Oh, and I do a little IT and programming on the side. (CN means sorry for what? you got in the way.)

[Allen Holub. https://linkedIn.com/in/allenholub @allenholub]

One of the dysfunctions that AI amplifies is the software industry's focus on output. The move to AI is all about increasing output. Robot monkeys type faster and produce more output than people. The problem, of course, is that it's never been output that's the problem. Producing a garbage product faster benefits nobody; never has. It's good outcomes (e.g., happy customers, painless improvements) that we need, not more output.

That's not to say that, within limits, producing code faster is a bad thing. For one thing, getting working code into customers' hands faster gets us better feedback sooner. But. The best way to increase speed, whether or not AI is in the picture, is to not build things nobody wants. AI often does the opposite. I was reading this morning about the huge security holes in systems created by several of the vibe-coding platforms. Nobody wants security breaches. The customers certainly don't, and ultimately, given the legal liability and loss of customer goodwill, neither does the company. The same applies to even big platforms like Amazon, getting buggier and buggier by the minute. Nonetheless, the siren call of more output seems to push companies into doing things that are not in their best interests.

The other related assumption is that more code is somehow a good thing. That's also never been true. More code adds complexity. It hides bugs. It's harder to maintain (even with an AI doing the maintaining—loading 500K lines of code into a single context to fix a bug is not only expensive, but will probably introduce five more bugs for every one you fix). We always want the smallest, simplest thing that solves exactly the problem at hand and nothing else. Ego-driven development by people who pat themselves on the back and do a happy dance every time they create more more more, without bothering to look at what, exactly, that "more" entails, gets us nowhere good.

I have to add—to head of the inevitable wild-eyed cultists—that I am far from opposed to AI assistance. I use it myself, and any software shop that doesn't avail itself of effective tools has got worse problems than an output focus. However, we have to use AI in the context of producing value; value to both the customer and to the engineers. Value is not proportional to quantity.

[N Likely ♞ @Ntspec]

Please support this GoFundMe by donating or sharing—every bit of help makes a difference. https://t.co/VIs4J0HCF8

[Jackie Singh @HackingButLegal]

If I could go back twenty five years to tell my fellow anti-authoritarian hacker friends that they'd eventually all sell out to the Man & when the people were under threat they'd turn their backs in favor of keeping their high-paying corporate jobs, I'd be laughed out of the room

[ICE T @FINALLEVEL]

Filming the last episode of SVU Season27 as we speak… Then I’m back on the road with my Lil Tour Partner @BabyChanelworld ❤️ ICE T and BodyCount shows this summer!

[Dave Kennedy @HackingDave]

This man gets it 😂

[gabsmashh @gabsmashh]

fun fact: momsmashh & i used to do martial arts, and we are teaching a women's self-defense course today!

[Allen Holub. https://linkedIn.com/in/allenholub @allenholub]

People tell me that using an LLM to create code will rot my programming-language skills. So? We work in a changing landscape, and agility is essential to survive. My goal is not to be the best Python (or whatever) programmer on the planet. My goal is to produce the most valuable, high-quality product in the shortest time possible. To do that, I want to use the most effective tools available. That might be a programming language, an LLM, a combination of the two, or something else entirely. Toolsets are constantly evolving. Keeping up is part and parcel of being a developer. I need to be skilled with the tools I'm using right now, not the ones I used in the past. People who rest on their laurels quickly become unemployable.

I guess the difference between the critics and me is that I've never seen myself as just a programmer (though I'm pretty good at that, if I do say so myself 😄). I'm a developer. I develop products and tools. To do that, I need to know how to program, but I also need to know architecture, product discovery and refinement, systems thinking, testing, TDD, UI/UX, and a host of other skills, including communication and process improvement. Every one of those things is integral to what I do, and most of them are not impacted by the LLM at all. As for those rotting coding skills, I still need to code to use the LLM effectively. I need to read and understand the code, refactor it when needed, and write things by hand that the LLM can't or won't write. With the tool, however, I can work faster.

When I moved from assembly language to C, from C to C++, from C++ to Java, from Java to Kotlin, from Kotlin to Python, the earlier skills indeed rotted away. I didn't much care. I can get them back easily enough if I need to. I'm with Sherlock Holmes, here. When Watson told him that the Earth goes around the Sun, he said that now that he knew it, he'd do his best to forget it. "What the deuce is it to me? … You say that we go round the Sun. If we went round the Moon, it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work."

[Uncle Bob Martin @unclebobmartin]

In the first decades of computer programming, there were no engineering principles. We just threw code at the machines and kept what worked.

It has taken us 80 years to build up a minimal set of engineering principles -- and few yet follow and understand them.

AI vastly increases the power of a programmer. That minimal set will have to be expanded. And those who don't use the minimal set will have to learn.

[J.R.R. Tolkien @JRRTolkien]

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, ���and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

— J.R.R. Tolkien

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

Yes.

[N Likely ♞ @Ntspec]

@CashApp Just did my taxes on Cash App, easiest ever! If there was a button to share this I missed it!

[William Shatner @WilliamShatner]

Ladies, gentlemen, SWs fans…😝
I have explored space.
I have explored time.
Now… I explore distortion.
Yes. You read that correctly.
I am releasing a HEAVY METAL album.
Thirty-five metal virtuosos. Thunderous guitars. Chaos with purpose.
Covers of legends like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest — and a few originals forged in the same cosmic fire.
This project is, quite literally, a gathering of forces. Loud imagination. Honest intensity. Unapologetic exploration.
At 94, one does not slow down. One turns the volume up.
So prepare yourselves.
We are about to boldly headbang where no one has headbanged before. 🤘
Stay tuned. The metal voyage begins this year.

[William Shatner @WilliamShatner]

Fellow adventurers in chocolate destiny!
Valentine's Day has come and gone. The roses are wilting. The cards are gathering dust. But fear not; TODAY dawns the TRUE holiday of the heart (and the wallet)!
IT'S HALF PRICE CHOCOLATE DAY! 🙌🏻

[Robert Graham @robertgraham]

John Hammond kept repeating "Spared no expense" on every aspect of his park except IT.

He got what he deserved.

Pay your IT more.

[Lorelei Lee @MissLoreleiLee]

If you ever hear yourself claiming to speak "for" a marginalized group, just stop. Immediately stop. You know who you are.

No one needs you to speak for them. We need you to listen.

[N Likely ♞ @Ntspec]

@brysonbort Bright enough to do the job is bright enough to avoid it.

[N Likely ♞ @Ntspec]

@SuperfluousSec @gabsmashh So what do we need to reinvent it?

[ICE T @FINALLEVEL]

ICE COLD FACT 💎

[N Likely ♞ @Ntspec]

@LitMoose I would take it as a compliment.

[William Shatner @WilliamShatner]

Happy Sunday!