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Comment by properbrew | Hacker News Reader

Not the OP you're replying to, but I've put together quite a few projects using only LLMs, no hand crafted code anywhere (I couldn't do it!)

https://dnbfamily.com

https://eventme.app

https://blazingbanana.com

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blazingban...

Are they perfect? No probably not, but I wouldn't have been able to make any of these without LLMs. The last app was originally built with GPT-3.5.

There is a whole host of other non-public projects I've built with LLMs, these are just a few of the public ones.

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Maybe the most depressing part of all this is if people start thinking they would not have been able to do things without the LLM. Of course they would have, it's not like LLMs can do anything that you cannot. Maybe it would have taken more time at least the first time and you would have learned a few things in the process.

It would be more depressing if our imagination didn't exceed the finite time we have to learn and master new skills.

Or if we stopped imagining.

But reducing friction, eliminating the barrier to entry, is of fundamental importance. It's human psychology; putting running socks next to your bed at night makes it like 95% more likely you'll actually go for a run in the morning.

Yes, "I couldn't have bothered..." is different from " I wouldn't have been able to make...".

You might not go for a run when the socks are not there, but I don't think you would start questioning your ability to run.

Sure, I can write all of it. But I simply won’t. I have Claude generated Avalonia C# applications and there is no way I would have written the thousands of lines of xaml they needed for the layouts. I would just have done it as a console app with flags.

Surely nobody writes this XAML by hand?

I understand the point, and to some degree agree. For myself, I really couldn't (not to say it wouldn't have been possible). I tried many many times over so many years and just didn't have the mental stamina for it, it would never "click" like infra/networking/hardware does etc and I would always end up frustrated.

I have learnt so much in this process, nowhere near as much as someone that wrote every line (which is why I think being a good developer will be a hot commodity) but I have had so much fun and enjoyment, alongside actually seeing tangible stuff get created, at the end of the day, that's what it's all about.

I have a finite amount of time to do things, I already want to do more than I can fit into that time, LLMs help me achieve some of them.

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