The code is not the point, but what if it’s the reason?

Hacker News is a community-driven platform for sharing and discussing technology news, startups, and programming-related topics. Through user submissions and comments, Hacker News offers insights into emerging technology trends, industry developments, and entrepreneurial ventures. Readers can participate in discussions, share their insights, and stay informed about the latest advancements in technology and innovation.

Hacker News

A developer reflects on the emotional impact of AI coding agents after 20 years of using Vim/Neovim. Initially dismissing AI tools as inadequate, they recently found them "good enough" to question whether learning fundamental tools like awk and sed still makes sense. The piece explores the tension between efficiency gains and the loss of joy that came from writing code itself, questioning what remains when the craft that brought satisfaction becomes automated.

The thing that brought me joy

Maybe it’s a shift in perspective to learning about the tools from the AI coding assistants. Asking your coding assistant to generate a line or two for your application or shell script to accomplish the goal you want. Then thinking, “Huh, I never would have thought to do it that way. It’s kind of cool that it was able to ‘borrow’ this idea from someone on GitHub and show it to me.”
It’s even better when you ask your coding assistant where it saw that code, and go review the original source. I often learn two other things. And end up dropping a star on GitHub.