I agree with this, at least. Because for me the act of typing the code into the editor was never the enjoyable part. It was always just the thing you had to do before you could enjoy the creation. I wanted to build a website, not type HTML into an editor. I wanted to mod Ultima Online, not type C# into an editor. I wanted to make a PWA, not type ruby into an editor. I wanted to interface some bespoke hardware with GPIO pins, not type python into an editor. I wanted to build an ETL pipeline to make better operational decisions at work, not type code into a fucking editor.
I’m an engineer, not a typist. I get paid for my judgment and for adding value, not lines of code typed.
Actually typing the code was always just a means to an end. Can you honestly say different?
>My experience in programming, since the mid-90s, is that my design is refined as I type out the programs. I gain insight into the problem as I create the program.
> [...]
>Whatever the case is, it's a very uncharitable take to trivialise those engaging in more thought, due to actually writing, as simply enjoying the act of typing.
I don't understand the vitriol here. Are you saying you just sit down and start writing the code, without planning or designing the application you're writing beforehand? Surely not.
Nowadays before any code gets written, by me or by an agent, there ends up being several rounds of back-and-forth on the overall architecture and design of whatever is under consideration. I put thought into data structures, ownership and lifetimes, design patterns, overall project context, etc.
That is, IMHO, the hard part of software engineering. If you're a professional, that's the part that pays the bills. Once that part is done, is there any actual value to implementing a ring buffer by hand vs having the model do it? Is there materially more thought? I argue there is not.
I write the code that the models don't write well. I let the models write the code they're good at writing because I've got a thousand better uses for my time than implementing a ring buffer, or an API endpoint handler, or whatever, by hand.
>All advances in programming, such as in data structures, algorithms, languages, theory, etc came mostly from people who liked programming.
Pretty sure most of these advancements came from people who were computer scientists first and foremost. They programmed by hand because no other method existed at the time. But there's a famous quote about computer science having very little to do with writing code.
edit: lol HN's bone-headed rate limits strike again. Oh well, conversation ends here I guess. By the time the rate limit has elapsed this conversation will be ancient history.