Carson Gross:

the LLM can produce code far faster than you, or anyone else, can understand it.

Code is cheap. Understanding code is rare, and thus expensive.

You’ve heard of the “10× engineer” who can produce a mythical amount of code? Well now we’re all 10× engineers who can debase a codebase that took years to build in mere moments.

I have seen prolific coders who lack a proper fear of complexity heap more and more code on top of an existing problem until the whole system collapses into an unmodifiable steady state, where any change creates as many bugs as it fixes.

LLMs are incapable of fear of complexity, and are prolific coders.

Embrace your humanity and show some fear! Fear the complexity.

Carson’s proposal?

To address this danger of LLM-generated code, I propose the subtractive, constraining engineer:

This engineer says no, closely examines LLM output, suggests simplifications and generally retains a firm hand when dealing with LLM-generated code.

Be willing to say no in the face of abundance.

Be afraid to say yes and proud to say no.

more sculptor and less builder

Be as proud of what you didn’t do to the codebase, as what you did do to it.

Carson Gross:

I have a hard time imagining a future where knowing how to solve problems with computers and how to control the complexity of those solutions is less valuable than it is today.

Most businesses...typically succeed by creating barriers of entry and by hoarding assets, not sharing them. Hypermedia makes it easier to share and interact without the need of central control or other types of “gatekeeping.”

The modern web has become a place of centralized, siloed control because that’s how companies succeed.

Notion doesn’t benefit by making your data open and interoperable. They benefit by hoarding it and holding it hostage. Then if you ever consider leaving, you’ll pause to think about such a time-consuming endeavor.

Whenever a problem can be solved by native HTML elements, the longevity of the code improves tremendously as a result. This is a much less alienating way to learn web development, because the bulk of your knowledge will remain relevant as long as HTML does.