24 ms·

Why do you want to understand the agent generated code though? That would make you the bottleneck. Shouldn’t you just concentrate on checking for optimal outcom

Why do you want to understand the agent generated code though? That would make you the bottleneck. Shouldn’t you just concentrate on checking for optimal outcomes, exhaustively trying to find/prompt edge cases and profiling performance?

codechicago277 8d ago
It’s difficult if not impossible to know where to look for edge cases or performance problems without understanding the code.
semiquaver 7d ago
Letting agents run wild with a codebase and no humans understanding it is a recipe for disaster across so many axes. You are not a serious person if you recommend that. Check back in a couple years and I’m sure they’ll be there but today’s frontier models 100% absolutely are not ready to fully own a nontrivial production codebase with no human involvement.
intended 7d ago
Process vs outcomes. If your work has little liability then you can afford to not care beyond “does it work”. If you have to worry about quality and ensuring you don’t get sued, you make sure the process works. If it has to maintainable, you you need the mental model to be present in someone’s head.
tiborsaas 7d ago
I do check most of agent code, not because I really care about every tiny detail but to catch if it's going to shoot itself (and my project) in the foot. If I only check the result and it's OK, it still doesn't mean that in two features I won't totally blow up the app. I'm a happy little bottleneck, what's wrong with that? How do you even know how to ask it to build stuff for you if you don't understand what foundations are you building on? Writing commit message (aka. what has changed) gives me a sense of control that I know what's happening and I can confidently build the next thing.
FuckButtons 6d ago
Oh no, the bottleneck is understanding what the fuck you’re doing! Think of the time you could save!

codechicago277 8d ago

It’s difficult if not impossible to know where to look for edge cases or performance problems without understanding the code.

semiquaver 7d ago

Letting agents run wild with a codebase and no humans understanding it is a recipe for disaster across so many axes. You are not a serious person if you recommend that. Check back in a couple years and I’m sure they’ll be there but today’s frontier models 100% absolutely are not ready to fully own a nontrivial production codebase with no human involvement.

intended 7d ago

Process vs outcomes. If your work has little liability then you can afford to not care beyond “does it work”. If you have to worry about quality and ensuring you don’t get sued, you make sure the process works. If it has to maintainable, you you need the mental model to be present in someone’s head.

tiborsaas 7d ago

I do check most of agent code, not because I really care about every tiny detail but to catch if it's going to shoot itself (and my project) in the foot. If I only check the result and it's OK, it still doesn't mean that in two features I won't totally blow up the app. I'm a happy little bottleneck, what's wrong with that? How do you even know how to ask it to build stuff for you if you don't understand what foundations are you building on? Writing commit message (aka. what has changed) gives me a sense of control that I know what's happening and I can confidently build the next thing.

FuckButtons 6d ago

Oh no, the bottleneck is understanding what the fuck you’re doing! Think of the time you could save!