coding
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🔍 AI coding requires better inputs and robust verification
Some great feedback on the previous post (Impressive is not always effective): “I agree. It would be interesting, however, to compare the progression of AI code generation with that of compilers - were there star assembly-code engineers sa…
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🔄 Breaking the AI slop cycle
“AI Slop” is a common expression describing a familiar phenomenon. It refers to sloppy code (or other assets) generated by AI that mostly works, lacks proper review, and may be poorly architected or implemented. The primary characteristic o…
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🧠 Context is everything
In conversation, I find myself saying: “what is the context of your comment?” At times we find ourselves responding before we really understand something. AI does the same thing – it just spouts off, even if it does not understand your cont…
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💡 Reflections from AI-coding a 10,000 line app
Lessons from AI-coding a 10,000 line app BRun is getting usable. Claude Code wrote almost all of it using Doc-driven development (manually write/update the docs, and have Claude write the code). Some thoughts: Claude is fast – there is no …
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📏 Less code is not the ultimate goal
Less code is not the ultimate goal Consider the following byte to binary C program: int main(int b,char**i){long long n=B,a=I^n,r=(a/b&a)>>4,y=atoi(*++i),_=(((a^n/b)*(y>>T)| y>>S)&r)|(a^r);printf("%.8s\n"…
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😊 Align the "happy path" in your code
An idiom that I learned in the Go community is to align the happy path. An example in C below: happy path not aligned int process_file(const char* filename) { FILE* f = fopen(filename, "r"); if (f != NULL) { char b…
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⚖️ Code is a liability, not an asset
A wise developer once said: Code is a liability, not an asset. Aim to have as little of it as possible. This is perhaps the #1 rule for clean code. Some examples: Don’t implement “just in case” features. Remember YAGNI. Premature abstrac…
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📚 Keep documentation close to the design/code
I find it works best to keep documentation as close to the code or design files as possible. There are several benefits: You can update, commit, and review documentation as part of the standard working process (pull requests, CI, etc.) You…
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🚴 The power of movement
Rod’s thoughts on Riding a Bike are thought provoking. … A decision that might be bad. Yet, with it, you can steer. Just like riding a bike. If it’s standing with no movement, you can direct the handle and still be where you are. It’s when…
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🤖 AI is the new compiler
There are two ways to use AI: Start with a vague prompt and keep prompting until we get the result we want. Point the AI at documentation, and keep updating the documentation until it is clear enough that AI can do the right thing. Even t…