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> My pre-llm workflow was to rapidly build a crappy version of something so that I could better understand it, then rework it (even throw away to the prototype)
by bluefirebrand 1y ago
> My pre-llm workflow was to rapidly build a crappy version of something so that I could better understand it, then rework it (even throw away to the prototype) to build something I now know how I want to handle.
In my experience this is a bad workflow. "Build it crappy and fast" is how you wind up with crappy code in production because your manager sees you have something working fast and thinks it is good enough
- bazoom42 1y agoSounds more like a problem with the manager than with the workflow per se?
- jdbernard 1y agoMaybe, but even so workflows like this don't exist in a vacuum. We have to work within the constraints of the organizational systems that exist. There are many practices that I personally adopt in my side projects that would have benefited many of my main jobs over the years, but to actually implement them at scale in my workplaces would require me to spend more time managing/politicking than building software. I did eventually go into management for this reason (among others), but that still didn't solve the workflow problem at my old jobs.
- rossdavidh 1y agoMy experience as well; once it is working, other things take priority. The question is, will the ability of LLMs to whip out boilerplate code cause managers to be more willing to rebuild currently "working" code into something better, now that the problem is better understood than when the first pass was made? I could believe it, but it's not obvious to me that this is so.
- MathMonkeyMan 1y agoThe trick is not to show anybody the prototype, especially your manager.
- fullstop 1y agoOh, man, I've been there. It's worse if sales sees it.
- withinboredom 1y agoI've been there. It gets even worse if the customer sees it.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- laserlight 1y agoI wouldn't be surprised if customers are easier to convince, than sales people, that the prototype is not suitable for deployment.
- exe34 1y agoThe old "oh I just came up with that exact set of necessary and sufficient specs" in agile meetings.
- nonethewiser 1y agoThats why you throw away the prototype.
- withinboredom 1y agoThat's also when you tell your manager: "this is just the happy flow, it isn't production ready". Manager will then ask how long that will take and the answer is that the estimate hasn't changed.
- wtetzner 1y agoI'm not sure I understand the problem. Just don't publish the prototype.
- arethuza 1y agoI have a bad feeling that a prototype I wrote ~15 years ago is still being used by a multinational company... It was pretty crappy because it was supposed to be replaced by something embedded in the shiny new ERP system. Funnily enough the ERP project crashed and burned...
- recursive 1y agoNothing lasts longer than a temporary fix.