4 ms·
I know you’re trying to see where the puck is headed but I think there is a lot of work between where we are and where LLMs replace 4 Junior devs. The workflow
by omarhaneef 1y ago
I know you’re trying to see where the puck is headed but I think there is a lot of work between where we are and where LLMs replace 4 Junior devs.
The workflows we have are not quite right for it. Coding has always been 10% coding and 90% debugging but I think the rate at which we generate the 10% will grow exponentially.
This means that the debugging has to grow. We will generate errors at an unprecedented rate.
LLMs trained on previous errors and methods won’t catch them. They’ll be more complicated and spread out over the code.
We need new tools to visualize the code and track errors. I think what it means to be a programmer will change. More testing, thinking and less klocs.
- forinti 1y agoI was going to comment that there will be a need for many IT professionals to fix problems produced by AI. Your comment painted a much clearer picture.
- new_user_final 1y agoI am not a super coder but I am quite conscious what I write. I copy pasted a part of my code into Claude.ai to help me add a few lines. It completed that part and also rewritten another few lines. I asked why it did that, explanation was that I missed a edge case. LLMs are good for writing boring parts of code and also helpful for catching bugs.
- actsasbuffoon 1y agoYou have to be careful because they will sometimes make mistakes they do that. I’ve had Claude decide to “simplify” my code by removing a fix that took hours to chase down.
- kadushka 1y agoWas your fix commented? If not, a human developer refactoring your code could have done the same. I’ve seen it happen more than once.
- ethbr1 1y ago> a lot of work between where we are and where LLMs replace 4 Junior devs The projection from current SOTA is that coding LLMs replace 1 senior dev + 5 junior devs with 1 senior dev + LLM. Ergo, there will be fewer junior dev positions and senior dev salaries can capture some of the additional value they deliver. Whether that's offset by the increase in senior supply as junior -> senior conversions happen...? The two areas that will likely expand demand to absorb those junior devs are: (1) Integration engineering (i.e. poorly-documented interface to poorly-documented interface) (2) Testing (because if kloc are cheap, there will be more money to validate -- and it will make people feel safer to have human-in-the-loop before sign-off / production). Coding LLMs are always going to be better at things well-represented in their training sets. Which is to say, the most popular languages, API styles, apps as of todayish. So, other things will be the best use of human time.
- GiorgioG 1y ago> The projection from current SOTA is that coding LLMs replace 1 senior dev + 5 junior devs with 1 senior dev + LLM. Thanks - I needed a good laugh.
- ethbr1 1y agoYou think junior devs, as the positions exist today, are going to be sticky in the face of coding LLMs?
- GiorgioG 1y agoHow else are you going to get senior+ level engineers going forward?
- ethbr1 1y agoHa! That's the rub: we won't. :( In the same way that we don't get the volume of true hackers that the 70s-90s produced, because of the locked-down computing experiences most kids were introduced to from 00+.
- 1y ago
- imhoguy 1y agoMassively kicking out junior devs is ignorant and short sighted. Critical IT areas are going to implode understaffed by retiring seniors and freefall quality of AI slop retrained on more AI slop. As GenX/Millenial senior, I am not going to stay long here, no matter what money I am offered. If cornered I would rather sell organic produce, honey, wood work, be handyman to my local community than spending any more days on debugging fruits of MBA-driven AI lunacy.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]