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Slinging code is not really the point. Making money off said code is the point. Making more money than you spend maintaining it is really the point. I don’t th

by dgfitz 1y ago

Slinging code is not really the point. Making money off said code is the point. Making more money than you spend maintaining it is really the point. I don’t think over the last 5-8 years there has been a shortage of code-slingers, as evidenced by all the tech layoffs. Using LLMs to generate more code does not equal productivity. There’s that famous story about the -2000 LOC commit, etc.

throwaway31131 1y ago
Also, the big challenges in software organizations I deal with are getting a group of a dozen or so “code-slingers” to work effectively as a team. That’s really hard and it’s been the fundamental management problem for the entire time I’ve been in the industry, which is decades. Not enough LOC has never really been a thing.
- skydhash 1y ago
  Also the many communications roundtrips to know what to code-sling. That's just as difficult as doing code-slinging well as a group.
- delusional 1y ago
  I've only been in industry for 7 years. So far, the problem I've seen at my two employers have been stopping the "code-slingers" from making absolutely worthless systems that create a ton on noise in the organization, and redirecting their efforts towards long term valuable and productive ends. From observation and induction, it seems very easy to contribute net-negative value in a software development position, and delivering long-term net positive value really requires a lot of discipline from the developers, or a lot of wrangling from non-technical members. PS: Discipline here does not mean "being picky about what things to accept" it means being picky about what things you make up. From observation, a lot of the most valuable work is super fucking boring, and it takes discipline not to make up a more intellectually stimulating task.
- WalterSear 1y ago
  AI solves that problem with brute force: if you need 5x fewer engineers working on an application, your team will find coordination 5x easier.
WalterSear 1y ago
It's not about an engineer shortage - it's about exponentially cheaper and faster engineering. I could not have attempted to create the application I have created without it. As far as money-making - I wager it's helped me a great deal more in regards to preparation for marketing and sales, since I barely knew where to start with that. But I don't have the tangible proof yet, since I'm just starting that process up.
- throwaway31131 1y ago
  In my opinion you've actually hit upon the interesting part of AI. If you can create an application easily with AI, then someone else can also create that application easily with AI. This means the value is no longer in that application merely existing. To me, this means that the value, i.e. the things people will pay for, in software will increasingly come from branding on the low end and from the applications that AI can't yet create on the high end.

by dgfitz 1y ago

throwaway31131 1y ago

Also, the big challenges in software organizations I deal with are getting a group of a dozen or so “code-slingers” to work effectively as a team. That’s really hard and it’s been the fundamental management problem for the entire time I’ve been in the industry, which is decades. Not enough LOC has never really been a thing.

skydhash 1y ago
Also the many communications roundtrips to know what to code-sling. That's just as difficult as doing code-slinging well as a group.
delusional 1y ago
I've only been in industry for 7 years. So far, the problem I've seen at my two employers have been stopping the "code-slingers" from making absolutely worthless systems that create a ton on noise in the organization, and redirecting their efforts towards long term valuable and productive ends. From observation and induction, it seems very easy to contribute net-negative value in a software development position, and delivering long-term net positive value really requires a lot of discipline from the developers, or a lot of wrangling from non-technical members. PS: Discipline here does not mean "being picky about what things to accept" it means being picky about what things you make up. From observation, a lot of the most valuable work is super fucking boring, and it takes discipline not to make up a more intellectually stimulating task.
WalterSear 1y ago
AI solves that problem with brute force: if you need 5x fewer engineers working on an application, your team will find coordination 5x easier.

WalterSear 1y ago

It's not about an engineer shortage - it's about exponentially cheaper and faster engineering. I could not have attempted to create the application I have created without it. As far as money-making - I wager it's helped me a great deal more in regards to preparation for marketing and sales, since I barely knew where to start with that. But I don't have the tangible proof yet, since I'm just starting that process up.

throwaway31131 1y ago
In my opinion you've actually hit upon the interesting part of AI. If you can create an application easily with AI, then someone else can also create that application easily with AI. This means the value is no longer in that application merely existing. To me, this means that the value, i.e. the things people will pay for, in software will increasingly come from branding on the low end and from the applications that AI can't yet create on the high end.