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Yes, now that humans write less than 99% of code, the most important criteria for a language isn't readability, which I'd argue was always Python's main selling
by ipnon 2mo ago
Yes, now that humans write less than 99% of code, the most important criteria for a language isn't readability, which I'd argue was always Python's main selling point, but the underlying runtime. There are practical limits to how fast a Python program can run either under I/O or CPU bound compared to other popular and mature languages with extensive libraries, like Elixir, Go or C++, depending on your use case.
- tripleee 2mo ago> now that humans write less than 99% of code, the most important criteria for a language isn't readability please tell me you're reading the AI code
- computerex 2mo agoNot really. I test the output thoroughly, I examine the thinking process, I go through the diff to see if anything jumps out but I my thinking process/the way I work has changed. Low level programming thinking has gotten atrophied it seems.
- esikich 2mo agoHave it run fuzz and test suites. Get with it man. Most of my LLM projects have massive test suites that do a far better job then I ever would have.
- jbstack 2mo agoSo you're fine with your code having unintended behaviour, as long as that unintended behaviour passes a test that the agent wrote? My preferred approach is to read and understand everything the LLM produces AND have it create test suites (which I also read and understand). The LLM can help you with that too - just have it breakdown and explain the code at each iteration.
- energy123 2mo agoIf it's code for a pacemaker, it should be reviewed by multiple humans. If it's code for an unimportant side project, I will never read it. Between those extremes are shades of grey. Part of our job in this new era is to understand the worst-case consequences of a bug given how the code interacts with the world, then allocate our effort based on that understanding. This can only be done on a case by case basis.
- rimliu 2mo agoDid you look at those test suites? Sometimes they test nothing.
- esikich 2mo agoYes, but not all - it has been a long time in my experience that frontier LLMs have written nonsense tests.
- ipnon 2mo agoI actually don't read any code! For generation I use simulations to ensure satisfactory error rates, for deterministic code I use test suites, and for user interfaces I use good ol' intuition! So I guess you could say I just write extra code that makes reading the code unnecessary. I find it quite strange to be honest! But this is the most effective way for me to ship now.