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The problem is software development is 95% stuff that has been done a million times before. If you disagree you’re probably not exposed to enough of the industr

by 93po 3y ago

The problem is software development is 95% stuff that has been done a million times before. If you disagree you’re probably not exposed to enough of the industry to see this.

skydhash 3y ago
Is it the problem? Most of the time I’ve coded something is because the code I found did not solve the problem according to my needs. There’s a plethora of music players, but no one is alike. That’s because the domain of music playing is vast and each developer had to compromise to find something that can work for him.
- 93po 3y ago
  If you make a VLC clone from scratch but intended to be used for kiosks, the mixture of features and how it operates may be different, but the individual features have assuredly already been programmed elsewhere before. Which is basically my point. It still basically renders video on a screen, and maybe has options to play/pause/mute/etc. Most websites are CRUD apps with stuff that's been done literally a million times before. Yes, some people do novel problem solving with software. But it's super rare in the grand scheme of the millions of people in the world who program.
  - mkleczek 3y ago
    What you are describing is a pipe dream of software reuse. People try to do it from the very beginning of IT industry with mixed results. The devil is in the details - your mixture of features is different than mine. We have constant upgrade of video codecs that offer more capabilities. We have unavoidable security issues that need to be somehow addressed (by version upgrades or replacing some components). Etc, etc, etc... IMO it is quite arrogant to claim "all problems are the same problem" - they are not even though they might look similar.
    - 93po 3y ago
      I agree that the premise of software reuse with humans is not realistic. However my point being that an LLM trained on the entirety of available code could realistically mix and match features across different pieces of software and build something cohesive
mkleczek 3y ago
That would mean 95% of problems are already solved. I don’t agree with this - the space of problems to solve is as big as that of solutions (both are programs in the end). I don’t think suggestion about lack of experience deserves any response.
- 93po 3y ago
  > That would mean 95% of problems are already solved. No, it means 95% of effort spent is spent towards already solved problems. This is, in part, why I hate capitalism. People are doing tons of work simply to compete with others instead of working together to solve meaningful problems.
  - mkleczek 3y ago
    It is difficult for me to dispute this as I don't think I am in any way entitled to define what problems are "meaningful". BTW - lack of an authority deciding what problems are meaningful is the core idea of capitalism. And I'm telling you as a person that lived many years under communism: this is much better for everybody.

by 93po 3y ago

The problem is software development is 95% stuff that has been done a million times before. If you disagree you’re probably not exposed to enough of the industry to see this.

skydhash 3y ago

Is it the problem? Most of the time I’ve coded something is because the code I found did not solve the problem according to my needs. There’s a plethora of music players, but no one is alike. That’s because the domain of music playing is vast and each developer had to compromise to find something that can work for him.

93po 3y ago
If you make a VLC clone from scratch but intended to be used for kiosks, the mixture of features and how it operates may be different, but the individual features have assuredly already been programmed elsewhere before. Which is basically my point. It still basically renders video on a screen, and maybe has options to play/pause/mute/etc. Most websites are CRUD apps with stuff that's been done literally a million times before. Yes, some people do novel problem solving with software. But it's super rare in the grand scheme of the millions of people in the world who program.
- mkleczek 3y ago
  What you are describing is a pipe dream of software reuse. People try to do it from the very beginning of IT industry with mixed results. The devil is in the details - your mixture of features is different than mine. We have constant upgrade of video codecs that offer more capabilities. We have unavoidable security issues that need to be somehow addressed (by version upgrades or replacing some components). Etc, etc, etc... IMO it is quite arrogant to claim "all problems are the same problem" - they are not even though they might look similar.
  - 93po 3y ago
    I agree that the premise of software reuse with humans is not realistic. However my point being that an LLM trained on the entirety of available code could realistically mix and match features across different pieces of software and build something cohesive

mkleczek 3y ago

That would mean 95% of problems are already solved. I don’t agree with this - the space of problems to solve is as big as that of solutions (both are programs in the end). I don’t think suggestion about lack of experience deserves any response.

93po 3y ago
> That would mean 95% of problems are already solved. No, it means 95% of effort spent is spent towards already solved problems. This is, in part, why I hate capitalism. People are doing tons of work simply to compete with others instead of working together to solve meaningful problems.
- mkleczek 3y ago
  It is difficult for me to dispute this as I don't think I am in any way entitled to define what problems are "meaningful". BTW - lack of an authority deciding what problems are meaningful is the core idea of capitalism. And I'm telling you as a person that lived many years under communism: this is much better for everybody.