Comment by frankc

Comment by frankc a day ago

5 replies

I just don't agree with this. I am generally telling the model how to do the work according to an architecture I specify using technology I understand. The hardest part for me in reviewing someone else's code is understanding their overall solution and how everything fits together as it's not likely to be exactly the way I would have structured the code or solved the problem. However, with an LLM it generally isn't since we have pre-agreed upon a solution path. If that is not what is happening than likely you are letting the model get too far ahead.

There are other times when I am building a stand-alone tool and am fine wiht whatever it wants to do because it's not something I plan to maintain and its functional correctness is self-evident. In that case I don't even review what it's doing unless it's stuck. This is more actual vibe code. This isn't something I would do for something I am integrating into a larger system but will for something like a cli tool that I use to enhance my workflow.

ken47 a day ago

You can pre-agree on a solution path with human engineers too, with a similar effect.

  • SpaceNugget 11 hours ago

    I think the point of the comment you replied to is that "reviewing code" is different in a regular work situation of reviewing a coworkers PR vs checking that the LLM generated something that matches what you requested.

    I don't send my coworkers lists of micromanaged directions that give me a pretty clear expectation of what their PR is going to look like. I do however, occasionally get tagged on a review for some feature I had no part in designing, in a part of some code base I have almost no experience with.

    Reviewing that the components you asked for do what you asked is a much easier scenario.

    Maybe if people are asking an LLM to build an entire product from scratch with no guidance it would take a lot more effort to read and understand the output. But I don't think most people do that on a daily basis.

  • bigbuppo a day ago

    Don't try to argue with those using AI coding tools. They don't interact well with actual humans, which is why they've been relegated to talking to the computer. We'll eventually have them all working on some busy projects to help with "marketing" to keep them distracted while the decent programmers that can actually work in a team environment can get back to useful work free of the terrible programmers and marketing departments.

    • wiseowise 21 hours ago

      > that can actually work in a team environment can get back to useful work free of the terrible programmers

      Is that what you and your buddies talk about at two hour long coffee/smoke breaks while “terrible” programmers work?

      • bigbuppo 8 hours ago

        I mostly just look at numbers every once in a while and try to keep them going in the right direction.