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Comment by tarruda

This illustrates a fundamental truth of maintaining software with LLMs: While programmers can use LLMs to produce huge amounts of code in a short time, they still need to read and understand it. It is simply not possible to delegate understanding a huge codebase to an AI, at least not yet.

In my experience, the real "pain" of programming lies in forcing yourself to absorb a flood of information and connecting the dots. Writing code is, in many ways, like taking a walk: you engage in a cognitively light activity that lets ideas shuffle, settle, and mature in the background.

When LLMs write all the code for you, you lose that essential mental rest. The quiet moments where you internalize concepts, spot hidden bugs, and develop a mental map of the system.

parent tarruda 1 year ago

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