I'm a solo dev. In fact I'm hardly a dev; it's just a helpful skill. Code writing speed IS a problem, because it takes valuable time away from other tasks. A bit like doing the dishes.
I just set up Claude Code tonight. I still read and understand every line, but I don't need to Google things, move things around and write tests myself. I state my low-level intent and it does the grunt work.
I'm not going to 10x my productivity, but it'll free up some time. It's just a labour-saving technology, not a panacea. Just like a dishwasher.
The intention of the title is to say your main problem. The problem separating you from $PROFIT$:
Coding effectively is definitely one problem. And you're right that AI helps with that problem. But for startups, side-hustles, VC-pitches and the inner-workings of companies (HN crowd) coding was never the problem.edit to add: So for people working on professional software teams, the discussion is how a hyper-increase in raw code production affects everything down stream. There are many moving parts to building stuff and selling it to people. So there's not a 1:1 line to more code = better outcome from the system level view. It's not clear, at least.
> But for startups, side-hustles, VC-pitches and the inner-workings of companies and so on (HN crowd) coding was never the problem.
I'd say you're 180° wrong. Getting to an MVP fast is the most immediate problem when you've started a startup. Iterating on ideas fast is the most immediate problem once you've released your MVP. You need an MVP to get users, and you need to to iterate to find product-market fit. Perfectly crafted code is a luxury problem you can't afford in the early stages.
This isn't in defense of perfectly crafted code. It's about NO CODE. Do not write (ai-moar) code! It's not the code that is the problem.
I understand the need for MVP to bring an idea into reality. It's the feedback that's valuable not the code. This is not about the code. So why is the argument "write more code"?
In any case, I have yet to create a product on my own that has done well financially. So what the hell do I know. If you have, then I should probably listen to you. But I have worked on teams for successful companies and in my career, the best advice I can give to an engineer is that your code matters, do a good job and care about what you make; also it's not about the code.
> So why is the argument "write more code"?
It isn't, that's what you injected. The argument was "write [the same amount of] code faster". And that is undoubtedly a good thing, because execution speed can make or break your startup.
I agree with that.
Exactly!
I've been working on a side project that I started in 2020. If I wanted to implement a new feature it was: - Wait for regular work hours to wrap up around 5 or 6 PM - Get dinner and rest / relax until around 8 or 9 PM - Open up the editor, think about the problem, Google things, read stack overflow which gets it 95% of the way there, Google more, dig deeper into the docs finally find what I needed - Write a function, make some progress, run into another roadblock, repeat previous point - Look up and it's now 1AM. I should write tests for this, but I'll add that to the backlog - Backlog only ever grows
Now with AI I describe what I want, it does the grunt work likely cleaner than I ever could, adds tests and warns me about potential edge cases.
I don't know about 10x, but I'm releasing new features that my client cares about faster and I have more time to myself.
All of the negativity around AI writing code sounds like people who would say "You can't trust the compiler, you need to write the machine code yourself"
Will AI fuck up? Yes But I'm the human in the chair guiding it, and learning myself how better to prompt it to keep it from those fuck ups with every iteration.
This I think is pretty spot on. I still have to review the code ideally line by line. It is like templates, generators, etc. they help and do make things faster but 10x isnt gonna happen unless requirement gathering also 10x which so far, ai has had no impact on.
This is the way.
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Great big difference though: A dishwasher is a water-saving and energy-saving technology.
Not saying LLMs are all bad, just that comparing them to dishwashers is probably not the best idea.
How much energy does a human + work enviroment cost vs an LLM call?
Human driving into work? Heating/cooling?
Wonder why big AI hasn't sold it as an enviromental SAVING technology.
After AI tech matures more, we will be able to save EVEN MORE energy by eliminating all the people from the environment.