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Something really feels off about the whole thing. I use Claude code. I like it, it definitely saves me time reading docs or looking on stack overflow. It’s a ph

Something really feels off about the whole thing. I use Claude code. I like it, it definitely saves me time reading docs or looking on stack overflow. It’s a phenomenal tool. If we are to believe the hype though, shouldn’t these tools be launching software into the stratosphere? Like the CEO of stripe said AI tools provide a x100 increase in productivity. That was 3-4months ago. Shouldn’t stripe be launching rockets in to space now since that’s technically 400months of dev time? Microsoft is reportedly all in on AI coding. Shouldn’t Teams be the best, most rock solid software in existence now? There is so much hype around these tools being a super charger for more than a year, but the actual software landscape looks kind of the same to me as it did 3-4 years ago.

dmix 1y ago
Whatever it produces still needs to be carefully reviewed and guided. Context switching as a human programmer is very hard so you need to focus on the same specific task, which is harder to not switch to social media or IRL while waiting for it. And you're going to be on the same branch for the same ticket, git doesn't let you do multiple at once (at least I'm not set up to). Not sure where the productivity scaling would come from outside of rapid experimentation on bad ideas until you find the right one, and of course rapid autocomplete, faster debugging, much fancy global find/replace type stuff. I use it quite aggressively and I'd probably only estimate 1.5x on average. Not world changing because we all mostly work on boring stuff and have endless backlogs.
- swader999 1y ago
  I'm starting to lean into just the API tests, playwright tests and keeping the schema solid. I don't have to give a crap about what's in between all that. It's not that simple or extreme but I have a gut feeling we'll just have to get a SLA like mentality and then let it do it's thing to meet these.
deadbabe 1y ago
Code is not the bottleneck.
- AdieuToLogic 1y ago
  > Code is not the bottleneck. Understanding the problem to solve is.
  - oldenlessons 1y ago
    Yup. Code is liability. Understanding it is the corresponding asset. Generating more code that is less well understood is akin to increasing leverage. Or: buying a super car might make your commute feel faster. But if everyone did it, we'd have a lot more congestion and a lot more pollution.
uludag 1y ago
Maybe this discrepancy is down to something like Claude code reducing the amount of brain power exhorted. If you have to do 80% less thinking to accomplish a task but the task takes just as long, you may (even rightfully) feel five times more productive even though output didn't change. And is this a good thing since you can (in theory) multitask and work longer hours, or bad because you're acquiring cognitive debt (see "Your Brain on ChatGPT")?
- christophilus 1y ago
  Exerted, fyi.
AdieuToLogic 1y ago
Perhaps the hype is not intended for developer consumption, even though often worded as if it were, but instead meant for investors (such as VC's).
OhioMan2943 1y ago
Despite living in an age of supposedly transformative brainstorming and creative technologies, we’re also paradoxically inhabiting a time with less creativity and vision than ever. :)
- oblio 1y ago
  Whaddaya mean, don't you like the 100th live action remake of an old animated movie?
hamandcheese 1y ago
I imagine most CEOs are hyped about serving the same shit sandwich for less money, rather than serving up a tastier sandwich. Or, as another commenter said, it's for investors, not developers, and certainly not the scum users.
swader999 1y ago
I think it will. The Claude subscription only launched in May. A software company with a large code base, legacy code, paying customers,SOC, GDPR etc is a large boat to turn. I still think we are only months away from realizing the pace you describe

dmix 1y ago

Whatever it produces still needs to be carefully reviewed and guided. Context switching as a human programmer is very hard so you need to focus on the same specific task, which is harder to not switch to social media or IRL while waiting for it. And you're going to be on the same branch for the same ticket, git doesn't let you do multiple at once (at least I'm not set up to). Not sure where the productivity scaling would come from outside of rapid experimentation on bad ideas until you find the right one, and of course rapid autocomplete, faster debugging, much fancy global find/replace type stuff. I use it quite aggressively and I'd probably only estimate 1.5x on average. Not world changing because we all mostly work on boring stuff and have endless backlogs.

swader999 1y ago
I'm starting to lean into just the API tests, playwright tests and keeping the schema solid. I don't have to give a crap about what's in between all that. It's not that simple or extreme but I have a gut feeling we'll just have to get a SLA like mentality and then let it do it's thing to meet these.

deadbabe 1y ago

Code is not the bottleneck.

AdieuToLogic 1y ago
> Code is not the bottleneck. Understanding the problem to solve is.
- oldenlessons 1y ago
  Yup. Code is liability. Understanding it is the corresponding asset. Generating more code that is less well understood is akin to increasing leverage. Or: buying a super car might make your commute feel faster. But if everyone did it, we'd have a lot more congestion and a lot more pollution.

uludag 1y ago

Maybe this discrepancy is down to something like Claude code reducing the amount of brain power exhorted. If you have to do 80% less thinking to accomplish a task but the task takes just as long, you may (even rightfully) feel five times more productive even though output didn't change. And is this a good thing since you can (in theory) multitask and work longer hours, or bad because you're acquiring cognitive debt (see "Your Brain on ChatGPT")?

christophilus 1y ago
Exerted, fyi.

AdieuToLogic 1y ago

Perhaps the hype is not intended for developer consumption, even though often worded as if it were, but instead meant for investors (such as VC's).

OhioMan2943 1y ago

Despite living in an age of supposedly transformative brainstorming and creative technologies, we’re also paradoxically inhabiting a time with less creativity and vision than ever. :)

oblio 1y ago
Whaddaya mean, don't you like the 100th live action remake of an old animated movie?

hamandcheese 1y ago

I imagine most CEOs are hyped about serving the same shit sandwich for less money, rather than serving up a tastier sandwich. Or, as another commenter said, it's for investors, not developers, and certainly not the scum users.

swader999 1y ago

I think it will. The Claude subscription only launched in May. A software company with a large code base, legacy code, paying customers,SOC, GDPR etc is a large boat to turn. I still think we are only months away from realizing the pace you describe