jacobian1d ago

Look this isn’t at all a defense of slop code, but it has me thinking — how much does code quality matter, and why?

It’s maintenance, right? We care about readability because we know we’ll have to make changes, fix bugs, etc.

But so … imagine a codebase that’s magically bug-free and feature-complete. (I’m aware this is a strawman - that’s the point, it’s a thought experiment.) Does it matter if this codebase is well-written? I’m not sure it does! (1/5)

Show threadJan Lehnardt 1d ago
@jacob et tu brute?
Show threadjacobian1d ago
@janl I’m not sure what you mean?
Show threadJan Lehnardt 1d ago
@jacob Every week someone I look up to falls for the genai scam.
Show threadjacobian1d ago

@janl *sigh*

If having anything positive to say or any curiosity at all about LLMs means I’ve fallen for a scam than ok I guess. I wish there was room for more nuance here.

Show threadJan Lehnardt 1d ago
@jacob yeah, I know you understand there are some topics where asking for nuance is a dogwhistle and I consider this technology one of them. To me the only sensible position is to stay the eff away from it.
Show threadjacobian
@janl I don’t know where to start with that. I’m sorry you see me that way. I still think you’re great.
Apr 2 at 3:47pmWeb