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What is up with these blogs that are apparently not made with the purpose of being read? Having sentences not start with uppercase letters really makes it one b

What is up with these blogs that are apparently not made with the purpose of being read? Having sentences not start with uppercase letters really makes it one big mesh of letters. Certainly when they are run-on sentences only separated by commas. Not helped by the choice of using a monospaced font. I get that it is often an aesthetic choice, but given that a blog post is written with the idea to be read, one I don't think is a particularly good one. Although the last time I made a remark about that on HN it became clear to me that a lot of people don't see the issue. Even if there are decades worth (at this point) of research that makes it clear that a sans serif font (or even a serif font on modern displays) works better for readability. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ In this case though, the combination of the monospaced font, everything being in lowercase and the run-on sentences I really am scratching my head here. Are you trying to get a message out there? Or are you mostly going for aesthetics?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
kccqzy 2y ago
The author simply hasn't learned anything at all about the art of typography and typesetting.
creesch 2y ago
Below you'll find the fixed version an LLM provided. I simply asked it to add uppercase letters where appropiate and split up sentences where needed. You are welcome: --- As LLMs get better and better at writing code, more and more people, at least on twt, have started to incorporate LLMs into their workflow. Most people seem to agree that LLMs have been a game changer for coding. They praise them for how much they have improved their productivity. They also mention how much easier it is to write code. Some claim that programmers who refuse to use them are "not using them correctly" and will eventually get left behind. In my opinion, the effectiveness of LLMs in coding at their current state is vastly overblown. Even if LLMs were as good as what avid users of them claim, I still won't see myself using it in any meaningful capacity. ## The art of programming Programming can be broken down into two parts. The first is solving problems algorithmically, breaking problems into steps that computers can follow within some constraints, thus forming a solution to the original problem. The second is expressing the solution in a way that the computer can understand. Both parts provide the programmers with an infinite canvas on which they can express their creativity. There are practically limitless ways to approach and solve a problem, and a practically infinite way to express a solution to the problem. Hence, programming is a form of self-expression - it is an art form. What is produced through programming is a kind of art - an art few appreciate. ## I am a programming artist In that sense, I see myself as an artist, one that expresses his creative self through programming. I enjoy creating programming art, because only through it do I find my true self, one who has a burning passion to create and build things. ## LLM is not for me Using LLM to write code is like asking an artist to paint for you. If you only want the end result, by all means! If you are like me who enjoy the process of painting, then why would you bother automating the fun part away? One may say, "But I am only using LLM to write code. I am still doing the problem solving myself!". To me, programming isn't complete if I don't get to express the solution in code myself. It isn't my art if I don't create it myself. ## A sad reality It is sad to me just how much people are trying to automate away programming and delegating it to a black box that can't even count letters in a word sometimes. They are even going as far as trying to emulate a software engineer on top of the black box. Does no one not find programming fun anymore? Does no one care enough about programming to go further beyond getting things working "well enough"? Is this just another case of availability bias? Please don't take this as a judgmental piece to anyone that I am alluding to. It's fine to not find programming enjoyable. It's fine to just want things to work. I am just disappointed at how the ones who care appear to be an ever dying breed.
latexr 2y ago
> Having sentences not start with uppercase letters really makes it one big mesh of letters. That annoying trend is infecting HN too. There’s at least a half-dozen comments like that on this thread alone.
- creesch 2y ago
  I really don't get what people think they are getting out of it though. Other than aesthetic "vibes".
botanical76 2y ago
I thought this might be intentional, as a signal that AI did not aid with the prose.
- creesch 2y ago
  It seems that they are doing it everywhere on their website, also in most of their recently started projects. Ironically, while looking into it, I found that one of their projects seems to use generative AI to make it work. It might be because of what you said, though the same way I asked an LLM to insert proper uppercasing I can also ask it to remove it. So it would be more for the "vibes" more than anything.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

kccqzy 2y ago

The author simply hasn't learned anything at all about the art of typography and typesetting.

creesch 2y ago

Below you'll find the fixed version an LLM provided. I simply asked it to add uppercase letters where appropiate and split up sentences where needed. You are welcome: --- As LLMs get better and better at writing code, more and more people, at least on twt, have started to incorporate LLMs into their workflow. Most people seem to agree that LLMs have been a game changer for coding. They praise them for how much they have improved their productivity. They also mention how much easier it is to write code. Some claim that programmers who refuse to use them are "not using them correctly" and will eventually get left behind. In my opinion, the effectiveness of LLMs in coding at their current state is vastly overblown. Even if LLMs were as good as what avid users of them claim, I still won't see myself using it in any meaningful capacity. ## The art of programming Programming can be broken down into two parts. The first is solving problems algorithmically, breaking problems into steps that computers can follow within some constraints, thus forming a solution to the original problem. The second is expressing the solution in a way that the computer can understand. Both parts provide the programmers with an infinite canvas on which they can express their creativity. There are practically limitless ways to approach and solve a problem, and a practically infinite way to express a solution to the problem. Hence, programming is a form of self-expression - it is an art form. What is produced through programming is a kind of art - an art few appreciate. ## I am a programming artist In that sense, I see myself as an artist, one that expresses his creative self through programming. I enjoy creating programming art, because only through it do I find my true self, one who has a burning passion to create and build things. ## LLM is not for me Using LLM to write code is like asking an artist to paint for you. If you only want the end result, by all means! If you are like me who enjoy the process of painting, then why would you bother automating the fun part away? One may say, "But I am only using LLM to write code. I am still doing the problem solving myself!". To me, programming isn't complete if I don't get to express the solution in code myself. It isn't my art if I don't create it myself. ## A sad reality It is sad to me just how much people are trying to automate away programming and delegating it to a black box that can't even count letters in a word sometimes. They are even going as far as trying to emulate a software engineer on top of the black box. Does no one not find programming fun anymore? Does no one care enough about programming to go further beyond getting things working "well enough"? Is this just another case of availability bias? Please don't take this as a judgmental piece to anyone that I am alluding to. It's fine to not find programming enjoyable. It's fine to just want things to work. I am just disappointed at how the ones who care appear to be an ever dying breed.

latexr 2y ago

> Having sentences not start with uppercase letters really makes it one big mesh of letters. That annoying trend is infecting HN too. There’s at least a half-dozen comments like that on this thread alone.

creesch 2y ago
I really don't get what people think they are getting out of it though. Other than aesthetic "vibes".

botanical76 2y ago

I thought this might be intentional, as a signal that AI did not aid with the prose.

creesch 2y ago
It seems that they are doing it everywhere on their website, also in most of their recently started projects. Ironically, while looking into it, I found that one of their projects seems to use generative AI to make it work. It might be because of what you said, though the same way I asked an LLM to insert proper uppercasing I can also ask it to remove it. So it would be more for the "vibes" more than anything.