I thought coding agents were probably BS and then I asked Cline to build me a test app to do something (I forgot what, something not that simple) and it built an entire working app. This was before Claude Code which was another step function improvement.
I am not estimating anything. This is my own evidence from my own projects. I have deployed gigantic features this past year, each of which would have taken me the whole year to write.
Tangentially related but I’ve been using Claude to practice interviewing on system design problems, and it’s actually pretty great. But even when it likes my answers it always finds something, however small, to push on. Once it actually was completely wrong and admitted it after I had it realize. So maybe you have to prime it to be contrary and not agree with everything you say, putting it in the role of a tough interviewer seems to do this implicitly.
studies suggest nothing. i've released a massive number of features in the last year for several projects that i estimate would have taken me multiple years to put together in a much more mentally exhausting way.
also another issue is that I accidentally (spoilers) got into the final vault very very early in the game, completely by accident (I didn't realize how accidental it was until I was actively trying to get back in later in the game). That was a bit unfortunate, because all the end-of-game exposition mostly confused me!
I really regret ruining Outer Wilds for myself, I had to look up a few solutions because I was very stuck, but I should have kept trying. Part of the issue, which I vow to never have again, is that I kept underestimating the creators, since it was an indie game, I figured that there was some parts of it that might have inelegant solutions, but no, don't make this same mistake! Outer Wilds is perfectly designed. Everything is solvable with in-game clues, but you're going to die many times in the meantime.