LLM coding assistants didn't create a split between craft-lovers and make-it-go developers.

[hongminhee@hollo.social]

LLM coding assistants didn't create a split between craft-lovers and make-it-go developers. They revealed one that was always there.

For craft-lovers, what's being bypassed isn't the output but the act itself. Marx called this separation from the act of production. But the alienation isn't coming from the LLM. It's coming from a market that penalizes whoever produces output more slowly.

Why craft-lovers are losing their craft

[hongminhee@hollo.social]

LLM 코딩 어시스턴트는 소프트웨어 엔지니어들 사이의 分裂을 만든 게 아니다. 이미 있던 分裂을 드러낸 것이다.

匠人 氣質의 소프트웨어 엔지니어들이 느끼는 疎外의 源泉은 LLM이 아니다. 그들의 產出物을 더 느리게 만드는 쪽에 不利益을 주는 市場이다. Marx의 勞動 疎外論으로 이 問題를 읽어보는 새 글을 썼다.

〈왜 코딩을 사랑하는 사람들이 코딩에서 밀려나는가〉 (한글)

[hongminhee@hollo.social]

LLMコーディングアシスタントはソフトウェアエンジニアたちの亀裂を作ったのではない。すでにあった亀裂を露わにしただけだ。

匠人気質のソフトウェアエンジニアたちが感じる疎外の源泉はLLMではなく、産出物を遅く出す側に不利益を与える市場にある。Marxの労働疎外論でこの問題を読む新しいエッセイを書いた。

「コーディングを愛する人たちが、なぜコーディングから追い出されているのか」

[hongminhee@hollo.social]

I've just submitted my post to Lobsters and Hacker News:

• Lobsters: https://lobste.rs/s/vxsjiv/why_craft_lovers_are_losing_their_craft
• Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47468389

[julian@activitypub.space]

As luck would have it, the timing didn't work your way. A re-post hit the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47473178

[julian@activitypub.space]

This is a damn good article, and really makes me think about where I fall on the spectrum.

I didn't have to think very hard, I side firmly with Lawson.

I firmly believe that code is a craft, and I take pride in the time spent writing the code, not just in the product itself.

I mourn the impending loss of that kind of counter-culture approach to programming. Which is ironic because I don't think it's even the mainstream way of looking at coding... most devs I know would side with Orchard. Coding is a means to an end.

[evan@cosocial.ca]

@hongminhee so, I guess this is true, but maybe also the craft changes?

I am old enough to remember when it was common to embed blocks of assembly language in your C code to optimize particular functions or loops. As high level languages grew, that familiarity with hardware architecture has mostly disappeared, but we've developed other skills instead.

When I read @jesse or @simon 's posts about exploring collaboration with LLMs, I see curiosity, creativity and joy in the craft.

[hongminhee@hollo.social]

@evan@cosocial.ca Totally agree, and I think that's actually the point the essay is trying to make. The split isn't “LLM users vs. craft lovers” but something more like “people with room to choose how they use the tools vs. people who don't have that room.”

@mitchellh@hachyderm.io is a good example. He's clearly using LLMs as a craftsperson. So am I, I think. But both of us are in situations where we're not being measured against a colleague's output every quarter. The workplace dynamic is what compresses all of that curiosity and exploration into pure throughput.

The craft probably does survive, just not evenly distributed.