I'm the NOT the original parent, but I am a developer, and use a 2018 MacBook Pro (15-inch). I'm a heavy vi user (vim actually.) I did not particularly care for advice to remap the escape key in vi to caps lock. So I just use the virtual escape key on the touch bar. It was odd initially not have haptic feedback on the escape key, but I got used to it and my typing speed in vi is almost as fast as it is on a normal keyboard (But definitely not as fast as it would be on a real keyboard). I have no real use for the touchbar. Occasionally, I use it to switch between browser tabs, and adjust video volume and scrub backwards and forwards in Premier Pro. But I don't really need it. I don't hate with a passion either. It's just there.

Edit fixed a typo: I am NOT the original parent.