5 ms·

When it comes to programming, I would say AI has about doubled my productivity so far. Yes, I spend time on writing prompts. Like "Never do this. Never do that

by TekMol 1y ago

When it comes to programming, I would say AI has about doubled my productivity so far. Yes, I spend time on writing prompts. Like "Never do this. Never do that. Always do this. Make sure to check that.". To tell the AI my coding preferences. Bot those prompts are forever. And I have written most of them months ago, so that now I just capitalize on them.

iammrpayments 1y ago
Do you use vscode?
- TekMol 1y ago
  No, why?
  - iammrpayments 1y ago
    Trying to figure out how can you double productivity, I try to use AI with neovim and can’t get more than 5% boost from it
    - TekMol 1y ago
      I use normal VIM. I let the AI implement features on its own, then look at the commit diffs and then use VIM to finetune them. I wrote my own tool for it. But I guess it is similar to cursor, aider and many other tools that do this. Also what Microsoft offers via the AI "edit" tool I have seen in GitHub codespaces. Maybe that is part of VScode?
      - sodapopcan 1y ago
        Hello fellow normal Vim user! Is your tool to open source?
        TekMol 1y ago
        No. Aren't there enough "Hey AI here is a codebase, please implement the following feature" tools out there yet? I have not tried them, but I guess aider, cursor and others offer this? One I tried is copilot in "edit" mode on github codespaces. And it seems similar.
        sodapopcan 1y ago
        I thought you were talking about a Vim plugin. Sorry for taking an interest.
    - jncfhnb 1y ago
      The trick is to have a terrible baseline
    - linsomniac 1y ago
      The past month or so I've been largely using Claude Code (similar to aider, which I haven't used in 6+ months, and OpenAI Codex I gather), from the CLI, for the "vibe coding" portion, and then hop into vim for regular coding when I need to "take the stick". I don't have any AI tools integrated into vim (though I do have LSP, etc). This method has been pretty effective, though I would like to have some AI built into the editor as well, my experiences with Cursor and Zed haven't been as rewarding as I'd like so I've iterated towards my current Claude Code. My first serious project, a fastapi-based replacement for an ancient Ruby on Rails project is just in "dev test" mode and going out to production probably in 2.5 weeks.
rcruzeiro 1y ago
Would you be comfortable sharing a bit about the kind of work you do? I’m asking because I mostly write iOS code in Swift, and I feel like AI hasn’t been all that helpful in that area. It tends to confidently spit out incorrect code that, even when it compiles, usually produces bad results and doesn’t really solve the problem I’m trying to fix. That said, when I had to write a Terraform project for a backend earlier this year, that’s when generative AI really shined for me.
- TekMol 1y ago
  Which LLMs have you used? Everything from o3-mini has been very useful to me. Currently I use o3 and gemini-2.5 pro. I do full stack projects, mostly Python, HTML, CSS, Javascript. I have two decades of experience. Not just my work time during these two decades but also much of my free time. As coding is not just my work but also my passion. So seeing my productivity double over the course of a few months is quite something. My feeling is that it will continue to double every few months from now on. In a few years we can probably tell the AI to code full projects from scratch, no matter how complex they are.
  - roywiggins 1y ago
    I think LLMs are just better at Python and JS than other languages, probably because that's what they're more extensively trained on.
    - dingnuts 1y ago
      LLMs are better at languages that are forgiving, like those two, because if something is not exactly right the interpreter will often be able to just continue on
    - zelphirkalt 1y ago
      Depends on what one defines as a criteria for "better". Getting something to run and work, or actually writing good, readable, mostly self-explanatory, maintainable, easily testable, parallelizable, code.
selfhoster 1y ago
No, I don't believe you. AI isn't deterministic. It isn't a tool. What you're describing doesn't sound credible to me.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
yubblegum 1y ago
What is it like to maintain the code? How long have they been in production? How many iterations (enhancements, refactoring, ...) cycles have you seen with this type of code?
- TekMol 1y ago
  It's not different from code I write myself. I read each line of the commit diff and change it, if it is not how I would have done it myself.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
nico 1y ago
> When it comes to programming, I would say AI has about doubled my productivity so far For me it’s been up to 10-100x for some things, especially starting from scratch Just yesterday, I did a big overhaul of some scrapers, that would have taken me at least a week to get done manually (maybe doing 2-4 hrs/day for 5 days ~ 15hrs). With the help of ChatGPT, I was done in less than 2 hours So not only it was less work, it was a way shorter delivery time And a lot less stress
- mountainriver 1y ago
  Agree! I love this aspect, coding feels so smooth and fun now
  - nico 1y ago
    Yes! It has definitely brought back a lot of joy in coding for me
- croes 1y ago
  Is the code audit included in that 2 hours?
  - humanrebar 1y ago
    Excellent question. Maybe people will use this newfound productivity to actually review, test, and document code. Maybe.
    - nico 1y ago
      Not so sure given how fast ai can understand the code already written Personally, I do try to keep a comment at the top of every major file, with a comment with bullets points, explaining the main functionality implemented and the why That way, when I pass the code to a model, it can better “understand” what the code is meant to do and can provide better answers (A lot of times, when a chat session gets too long and seems like the model is getting stuck without good solutions, I ask it to create the comment, and then I start a new chat, passing the code that includes the comment, so it has better initial context for the task)
gabrieledarrigo 1y ago
And...? Does it result in a double salary, perhaps?
- IshKebab 1y ago
  Obviously not because AI is available to everyone and salary isn't only a function of work completed.
  - gabrieledarrigo 1y ago
    Exactly that!
risyachka 1y ago
GG, you do twice the work, twice the mental strain for same wage. And you spend time on writing prompts instead of mastering your skills, thus becoming less competitive as a professional (as anyone can use ai, thats a given level now) Sounds like a total win.
ptx 1y ago
> those prompts are forever Have you tested them across different models? It seems to me that even if you manage to cajole one particular model into behaving a particular way, a different model would end up in a different state with the same input, so it might need a completely different prompt. So all the prompts would become useless whenever the vendor updates the model.
Bjorkbat 1y ago
I'm always a little bit skeptical whenever people say that AI has resulted in anything more than a personal 50% increase in productivity. Like, just stop and think about it for a second. You're saying that AI has doubled your productivity. So, you're actually getting twice as much done as you were before? Can you back this up with metrics? I can believe AI can make you waaaaaaay more productive in selective tasks, like writing test conditions, making quick disposable prototypes, etc, but as a whole saying you get twice as much done as you did before is a huge claim. It seems more likely that people feel more productive than they did before, which is why you have this discrepancy between people saying they're 2x-10x more productive vs workplace studies where the productivity gain is around 25% on the high end.
- TekMol 1y ago
  I'm surprised there are developers who seem to not get twice as much done with AI than they did without. I see it happening right in front of my eyes. I tell the AI to implement a feature that would take me an hour or more to implement and after one or two tries with different prompts, I get a solution that is almost perfect. All I need to do is fine-tune some lines to my liking, as I am very picky when it comes to code. So the implementation time goes down from an hour to 10 minutes. That is something I see happening on a daily basis. Have you actually tried? Spend some time to write good prompts, use state of the art models (o3 or gemini-2.5 pro) and let AI implement features for you?
  - shafyy 1y ago
    Even if what you are saying is true, a significant part of a developer's time is not writing code, but doing other things like thinking about how to best solve a problem, thinking about the architecture, communicating with coworkers, and so on. So, even if AI helps you write code twice as fast, it does not mean that it makes you twice as productive in your job. Then again, maybe you really have a shitty job at a ticket factory where you just write boilerplate code all day. In which case, I'm sorry!
    - _qswe 1y ago

by TekMol 1y ago

iammrpayments 1y ago

Do you use vscode?

TekMol 1y ago
No, why?
- iammrpayments 1y ago
  Trying to figure out how can you double productivity, I try to use AI with neovim and can’t get more than 5% boost from it
  - TekMol 1y ago
    I use normal VIM. I let the AI implement features on its own, then look at the commit diffs and then use VIM to finetune them. I wrote my own tool for it. But I guess it is similar to cursor, aider and many other tools that do this. Also what Microsoft offers via the AI "edit" tool I have seen in GitHub codespaces. Maybe that is part of VScode?
    - sodapopcan 1y ago
      Hello fellow normal Vim user! Is your tool to open source?
      - TekMol 1y ago
        No. Aren't there enough "Hey AI here is a codebase, please implement the following feature" tools out there yet? I have not tried them, but I guess aider, cursor and others offer this? One I tried is copilot in "edit" mode on github codespaces. And it seems similar.
        sodapopcan 1y ago
        I thought you were talking about a Vim plugin. Sorry for taking an interest.
  - jncfhnb 1y ago
    The trick is to have a terrible baseline
  - linsomniac 1y ago
    The past month or so I've been largely using Claude Code (similar to aider, which I haven't used in 6+ months, and OpenAI Codex I gather), from the CLI, for the "vibe coding" portion, and then hop into vim for regular coding when I need to "take the stick". I don't have any AI tools integrated into vim (though I do have LSP, etc). This method has been pretty effective, though I would like to have some AI built into the editor as well, my experiences with Cursor and Zed haven't been as rewarding as I'd like so I've iterated towards my current Claude Code. My first serious project, a fastapi-based replacement for an ancient Ruby on Rails project is just in "dev test" mode and going out to production probably in 2.5 weeks.

rcruzeiro 1y ago

Would you be comfortable sharing a bit about the kind of work you do? I’m asking because I mostly write iOS code in Swift, and I feel like AI hasn’t been all that helpful in that area. It tends to confidently spit out incorrect code that, even when it compiles, usually produces bad results and doesn’t really solve the problem I’m trying to fix. That said, when I had to write a Terraform project for a backend earlier this year, that’s when generative AI really shined for me.

TekMol 1y ago
Which LLMs have you used? Everything from o3-mini has been very useful to me. Currently I use o3 and gemini-2.5 pro. I do full stack projects, mostly Python, HTML, CSS, Javascript. I have two decades of experience. Not just my work time during these two decades but also much of my free time. As coding is not just my work but also my passion. So seeing my productivity double over the course of a few months is quite something. My feeling is that it will continue to double every few months from now on. In a few years we can probably tell the AI to code full projects from scratch, no matter how complex they are.
- roywiggins 1y ago
  I think LLMs are just better at Python and JS than other languages, probably because that's what they're more extensively trained on.
  - dingnuts 1y ago
    LLMs are better at languages that are forgiving, like those two, because if something is not exactly right the interpreter will often be able to just continue on
  - zelphirkalt 1y ago
    Depends on what one defines as a criteria for "better". Getting something to run and work, or actually writing good, readable, mostly self-explanatory, maintainable, easily testable, parallelizable, code.

selfhoster 1y ago

No, I don't believe you. AI isn't deterministic. It isn't a tool. What you're describing doesn't sound credible to me.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

yubblegum 1y ago

What is it like to maintain the code? How long have they been in production? How many iterations (enhancements, refactoring, ...) cycles have you seen with this type of code?

TekMol 1y ago
It's not different from code I write myself. I read each line of the commit diff and change it, if it is not how I would have done it myself.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

nico 1y ago

> When it comes to programming, I would say AI has about doubled my productivity so far For me it’s been up to 10-100x for some things, especially starting from scratch Just yesterday, I did a big overhaul of some scrapers, that would have taken me at least a week to get done manually (maybe doing 2-4 hrs/day for 5 days ~ 15hrs). With the help of ChatGPT, I was done in less than 2 hours So not only it was less work, it was a way shorter delivery time And a lot less stress

mountainriver 1y ago
Agree! I love this aspect, coding feels so smooth and fun now
- nico 1y ago
  Yes! It has definitely brought back a lot of joy in coding for me
croes 1y ago
Is the code audit included in that 2 hours?
- humanrebar 1y ago
  Excellent question. Maybe people will use this newfound productivity to actually review, test, and document code. Maybe.
  - nico 1y ago
    Not so sure given how fast ai can understand the code already written Personally, I do try to keep a comment at the top of every major file, with a comment with bullets points, explaining the main functionality implemented and the why That way, when I pass the code to a model, it can better “understand” what the code is meant to do and can provide better answers (A lot of times, when a chat session gets too long and seems like the model is getting stuck without good solutions, I ask it to create the comment, and then I start a new chat, passing the code that includes the comment, so it has better initial context for the task)

gabrieledarrigo 1y ago

And...? Does it result in a double salary, perhaps?

IshKebab 1y ago
Obviously not because AI is available to everyone and salary isn't only a function of work completed.
- gabrieledarrigo 1y ago
  Exactly that!

risyachka 1y ago

GG, you do twice the work, twice the mental strain for same wage. And you spend time on writing prompts instead of mastering your skills, thus becoming less competitive as a professional (as anyone can use ai, thats a given level now) Sounds like a total win.

ptx 1y ago

> those prompts are forever Have you tested them across different models? It seems to me that even if you manage to cajole one particular model into behaving a particular way, a different model would end up in a different state with the same input, so it might need a completely different prompt. So all the prompts would become useless whenever the vendor updates the model.

Bjorkbat 1y ago

I'm always a little bit skeptical whenever people say that AI has resulted in anything more than a personal 50% increase in productivity. Like, just stop and think about it for a second. You're saying that AI has doubled your productivity. So, you're actually getting twice as much done as you were before? Can you back this up with metrics? I can believe AI can make you waaaaaaay more productive in selective tasks, like writing test conditions, making quick disposable prototypes, etc, but as a whole saying you get twice as much done as you did before is a huge claim. It seems more likely that people feel more productive than they did before, which is why you have this discrepancy between people saying they're 2x-10x more productive vs workplace studies where the productivity gain is around 25% on the high end.

TekMol 1y ago
I'm surprised there are developers who seem to not get twice as much done with AI than they did without. I see it happening right in front of my eyes. I tell the AI to implement a feature that would take me an hour or more to implement and after one or two tries with different prompts, I get a solution that is almost perfect. All I need to do is fine-tune some lines to my liking, as I am very picky when it comes to code. So the implementation time goes down from an hour to 10 minutes. That is something I see happening on a daily basis. Have you actually tried? Spend some time to write good prompts, use state of the art models (o3 or gemini-2.5 pro) and let AI implement features for you?
- shafyy 1y ago
  Even if what you are saying is true, a significant part of a developer's time is not writing code, but doing other things like thinking about how to best solve a problem, thinking about the architecture, communicating with coworkers, and so on. So, even if AI helps you write code twice as fast, it does not mean that it makes you twice as productive in your job. Then again, maybe you really have a shitty job at a ticket factory where you just write boilerplate code all day. In which case, I'm sorry!
  - _qswe 1y ago