I'm Coding by Hand

A developer at the Recurse Center in Brooklyn shares their experience deliberately coding without AI assistance for 3 months, despite having spent two years building AI agents professionally. The retreat focuses on three goals: training an LLM from scratch using Stanford's CS336 course (including building a GPT-2 style Transformer in PyTorch), improving Python fluency through pair programming, and deepening computer science fundamentals via activities like writing BASIC on an Apple IIe, Unix/security CTF challenges, Vim editing, and Clojure mob programming. The core insight is that coding by hand builds deeper codebase understanding and craft, while AI tools — though powerful for iteration — can shortcut the learning process that makes developers more effective in the long run.