Why Copilots and chatbots are particularly bad for modern web dev

I disagree with this article's argument that LLM tooling will hurt us here because this modern-modern style of coding is under-represented in the training data.

First, why do people use React (plus a thousand npm packages, which is where the real bloat comes from) to build a web application? It's because abstractions let you work faster.

If I'm using a tool like Copilot and it autocompletes the following:

    ' '.repeat(Math.max(0, 10 - str.length)) + str

I've already seen this effect in my own work: I'm much more willing to do things the slightly less convenient way in JavaScript rather than turning to a library when I don't have to type out those extra characters myself.

I'm back to writing code like in the jQuery days only with native browser APIs in place of jQuery and my developer experience is SO much less frustrating!

Baldur's larger point is that LLMs won't be able to help you with new cutting-edge browser features. I don't this matters, because of how web standards work. I won't use a new platform feature until it's supported by ~95% of deployed browsers according to https://caniuse.com/ which normally takes a couple of years. Coincidentally that's about how long it takes for new LLMs that know about these features to emerge!

If you don't know about these features, LLMs probably won't help you much. They're not replacements for staying on top of your craft. But if you DO stay on top of what's possible and know how to effectively use and prompt LLMs they'll be enormously useful here.

One example: I've started writing Web Components now, because thanks to Claude I don't have to remember the trivia of how the syntax works.

So my conclusion is the opposite of Baldur's. We both want developers to write more fast performing vanilla JavaScript and less bloated library-laden monsters, but I see LLMs as a powerful ally in helping us get there.