Yes and no. The broader business context translates well, but each model has it's own blindspots and hyperfocuses that you need to massage out.

* Business context - these are things like code quality/robustness, expected spec coverage, expected performance needs, domain specific knowledge. These generally translate well between models, but can vary between code bases. For example, a core monolith is going to have higher standards than a one-off auxiliary service.

* Model focuses - Different models have different tendencies when searching a code base and building up their context. These are specific to each code base, but relatively obvious when they happen. For example, in one code base I work in, one model always seems to pick up our legacy notification system while another model happens to find our new one. It's not really a skill issue. It's just luck of the draw how files are named and how each of them search. They each just find a "valid" notification pattern in a different order.

LLMs are massively helpful for orienting to a new codebase, but it just takes some time to work out those little kinks.

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ModernMech 6 days ago | parent [-]

This is like UB in compilers but 100x worse, because there's no spec, it's not even documented, and it could change without a compiler update.

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tptacek 6 days ago | parent [-]

It is nothing at all like UB in a compiler. UB creates invisible bugs that tend to be discovered only after things have shipped. This is code generation. You can just read the code to see what it does, which is what most professionals using LLMs do.

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ModernMech 5 days ago | parent [-]

With the volume of code people are generating, no you really can't just read it all. pg recently posted [1] that someone he knows is generating 10kloc/day now. There's no way people are using AI to generate that volume of code and reading it. How many invisible bugs are lurking in that code base, waiting to be found some time in the future after the code has shipped?

[1] https://x.com/paulg/status/1953289830982664236

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tptacek 5 days ago | parent [-]

I read every line I generate and usually adjust things; I'm uncomfortable merging a PR I haven't put my fingerprints on somehow. From the conversations I have with other practitioners, I think this is pretty normal. So, no, I reject your premise.

	▲	ModernMech 5 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		My premise didn't have anything to do with you, so what you do isn't a basis for rejecting it. No matter what you or your small group of peers do, AI is generating code at a volume that all the developers in the world combined couldn't read if they dedicated 24hrs/day.
	▲	skajzbxbbj 5 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
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