Comment on The productivity paradox of AI coding assistants

SpicyTaint@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

• FunnyUsername@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  so what is it then? i used llms to write the code for a feature complete desktop screen dimming application. did i a producer, if not develop it? am i just a… logic guide? legitimately asking because the program works better than any available alternative

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  • SpicyTaint@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    You’re dictating to and micromanaging an algorithm. Cringe individuals would refer to themselves as “Prompt Engineers” or something like that.

    Instead of actually writing the code and understanding what each function actually does, you’re basically just skimming whatever the output is. You’re not gaining experience in programming by doing that and you may not be aware of what exactly everything does. Could be harmless until something unexpected starts causing issues.

    For your specific case, an LLM seems completely overkill. I’ve also setup my desktop monitors to change brightness via a couple keyboard shortcuts using ControlMyMonitor and AutoHotkey. It’s like 10 lines of code.

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    • FunnyUsername@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      my program is significantly better than either of those options lol

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    • TrumpetX@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Is it though? Sure he could hire a programmer, but Claude is far less expensive. I agree with his position, he’s a project/product manager, not a programmer. And that’s okay sometimes.

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      • SpicyTaint@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        You’re right, I apologize, it’s really 3 lines of code. It’s just repeated for each monitor/action (brighten/dimming) being performed. The script file it technically 47 lines because I have 3 monitors and 10 different shortcuts.

        Here’s the first action for the first monitor. Just edit the name and the brightness amount and voilà. The comment inline code formatting might put it on one line.

        ^!+PgUp:: Run, D:\Programs\ControlMyMonitor\ControlMyMonitor.exe /ChangeValue “MSI G274QPF” 10 20 return

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  • PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I see myself as a project manager and executive producer. I know I don’t write that code, and I couldn’t even if I tried.

    But I am skilled at directing and verifying, and this has allowed me to create (not code) a fairly complex WordPress plugin for course bookings with online card payment processing etc.

    I have made a few manual tweaks here and there but that code is 98% Claude. And you know what? It works. That is good enough for me.

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