We have LLMs try to generate descriptions of PRs for us and they're pretty universally disliked. They're always overly-complex descriptions of the mechanical changes and have no sense of motivation.
Also, a huge reason to understand the code yourself is to make sure the LLM isn't wrong, but this doesn't work if an LLM is itself generating the understanding.
Great code needs great understanding and agents need excellent guidance. Even in my current solo-dev work, I can't imagine making a production commit I haven't read until I understand it. I own the consequences of my code; that's a responsibility AI agents can't take.
For me the solution has been to throw away the code I don’t understand. I let the agent write the code, and if when I read it it seems unclear or needs a lot of explanation from the agent, I just throw it away and start over, or do it by myself.
While the tips are good to handle the volume, I still think this sets code owner on a dangerous path.
AI have limitation and hallucinate. Complex code will be explained in hallucinated way. At some point AI will be unable to write more because the arch has become too complex or the volume of code will be to high.
The article I would like to read would suggest how to force LLM to architect the code like a solid tower instead of a pile of unstable mud.
I feel if you still architect the code and guide the LLM, it will do a pretty good job. Maybe one day the LLM will be able to do all the system architecture but that’s probably still quite some time out. I don’t even know if that’s possible considering different business needs and other factors that aren’t technical.
We have LLMs try to generate descriptions of PRs for us and they're pretty universally disliked. They're always overly-complex descriptions of the mechanical changes and have no sense of motivation.
Also, a huge reason to understand the code yourself is to make sure the LLM isn't wrong, but this doesn't work if an LLM is itself generating the understanding.
Are these generated descriptions of LLM submitted changes or of human changes? If a human, shouldn't they be putting the motivation into the PR?
LLM-generated (or at least LLM-assisted), but a human's still the one submitting the PR for review.
I don’t know. From my experience I get pretty good descriptions of PRs if I ask the right questions and provide some context.
I am so very tired of 2 page long PR descriptions for a 5 line change.
I am so dying to read more about the new/current/real bottleneck!
Where is the bottleneck? WHERE?? Tell me! No evidence needed, just lay it on, man to man, thought-leader to thought-leader!
> thought-leader to thought-leader!
This is my new chat-up line at networking events.
Oh wait, there it is, sitting over top of the fat part and under the cork...
"I read the code." -Mitchell Hashimoto
Great code needs great understanding and agents need excellent guidance. Even in my current solo-dev work, I can't imagine making a production commit I haven't read until I understand it. I own the consequences of my code; that's a responsibility AI agents can't take.
If you try to spec the problem with all the painful details for the machine to understand, you will end up with a rust codebase.
For me the solution has been to throw away the code I don’t understand. I let the agent write the code, and if when I read it it seems unclear or needs a lot of explanation from the agent, I just throw it away and start over, or do it by myself.
While the tips are good to handle the volume, I still think this sets code owner on a dangerous path.
AI have limitation and hallucinate. Complex code will be explained in hallucinated way. At some point AI will be unable to write more because the arch has become too complex or the volume of code will be to high.
The article I would like to read would suggest how to force LLM to architect the code like a solid tower instead of a pile of unstable mud.
I feel if you still architect the code and guide the LLM, it will do a pretty good job. Maybe one day the LLM will be able to do all the system architecture but that’s probably still quite some time out. I don’t even know if that’s possible considering different business needs and other factors that aren’t technical.
pfft...I'm way past understanding
Overstanding is the new horizon