Dreams of Code

The most influential dev YouTuber you've never heard of. building @kiru_editor

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@kuberdenis @tillythecoder Haha I think this every day

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

We went from arguing about code editors, to arguing about whether or not you should even read the code.

Absolutely wild when you say it out loud.

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@z1sherman @fjzeit figure what out exactly?

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

Writing code by hand is not a waste of time.

[fj @fjzeit]

My AI coding life is no different to my pre-AI coding life when it comes to design, control, cognitive ownership, and responsibility. the only thing that has changed is that i don't waste hours tapping out code.

i am committing in a day what i would have committed in a fortnight pre-AI, and that's literally just from compressing the coding part. everything else is the same.

no surrender of design
no surrender of practices
no surrender of ownership
no surrender of responsibility
no PR review hell

*taps the sign*

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@drogus The thing is, every job is about solving problems.

The job may have changed, but we don't need to change what it was, otherwise these tools would be useless today.

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

I don’t know many developers that would have kept their job had they not written any code.

Most of the processes/ceremonies were to manage the time it took to write code, ensure the code was written correctly, and that written code was understandable by other team members.

[Sam Lambert @samlambert]

the job was never writing code

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

I use skills. My skill enforces a validation check from myself before proceeding.

I agree it’s the skills we learnt whilst coding. I don’t think those skills are as easy to learn through Agents (although not impossible).

I found spending some time to write code by hand taught me more about ffmpeg than I learnt through using an Agent.

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

TDD helps, but I’ve still found adding a manual verification step to be valuable. There’s been cases where the test is basically not testing anything (a function that returns a value and asserting that value is returned for example).

App behavior isn’t always a guarantee as well, I’ve had experiences where the app “worked” but still was affected by Murphy’s Law due to the Agent generating code that was not correct for the situation.

Both of these have benefited from my understanding and experience of writing code by hand.

I don’t believe someone who has never done so would be able to be as effective.

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@ImLunaHey Do you read the tests to see if they are correctly testing what they’re supposed to?

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@ImLunaHey How do you know if what you’re building is correct?

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@ImLunaHey Do you believe your experience of writing code by hand provides no benefit towards your ability to use agents?

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@fjzeit You’re describing how you ask it, not how you developed the understanding to know what to ask it.

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@subniferus @johncrickett And how does one gain this expertise?

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@HumanMeatloaf98 I think its nuanced and there are good reasons to still do it.

- Learning is a valuable use of time.
- to develop an understanding is also valuable.
- Architecting can be as well.

And, as you mentioned, doing it for fun!

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@bdafeesh Always has been

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@subniferus @johncrickett Knowing what to build before doing so absolutely helps with writing lines.

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@HumanMeatloaf98 Of course not, that’s not what I’m arguing.

Instead it’s the time spent coding for 6 years which has given you an immense advantage for using Agents.

I wouldn’t call that time a waste.

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@fjzeit How did you know what to ask it?

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@HumanMeatloaf98 What about for learning and understanding?

Isn’t that beneficial to productivity?

Would you prefer a vibe coder, or someone who has spent time learning through the act of coding by hand?

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@abduffevhyfc @meta_x_ai You never benefitted from understanding assembly?

How does one understand code with AI having never written it?

This is a really easy claim to disprove by the way. 90% of people in my life I can test this with.

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@meta_x_ai That’s not my question though is it.

You value the one who has more experience and a greater understanding of the fundamentals. You’re not the only one either, it’s where we are in the industry right now.

It’s also one of the biggest paradoxes of A.I. coding.

[Dreams of Code @dreamsofcode_io]

@K12DataInsights As a professor you’ll appreciate a scientific approach then to proving either claim?