| ▲ | logicprog 2 hours ago | |
> I actually don't like _writing_ code, but enjoy reading it. I think this is one of the divides between people who like AI and people who don't. I don't mind writing code per se, but I really don't like text editing — and I've used Vim (Evil mode) and then Emacs (vanilla keybindings) for years, so it's not like I'm using bad tools; it's just too fiddly. I don't like moving text around; munging control structures from one shape to another; I don't like the busy work of copying and pasting code that isn't worth DRYing, or isn't capable of being DRY'd effectively; I hate going around and fixing all the little compiler and linter errors produced by a refactor manually; and I really hate the process of filling out the skeleton of an type/class/whatever architecture in a new file before getting to the meat. However, reading code is pretty easy for me, and I'm very good at quickly putting algorithms and architectures I have in my head into words — and, to be honest, I often find this clarifies the high level idea more than writing the code for it, because I don't get lost in the forest — and I also really enjoy taking something that isn't quite good enough, that's maybe 80% of the way there, and doing the careful polishing and refactoring necessary to get it to 100%. | ||
| ▲ | MarsIronPI an hour ago | parent [-] | |
I don't want to be "that guy", but I'll indulge myself. > I think this is one of the divides between people who like AI and people who don't. I don't mind writing code per se, but I really don't like text editing — and I've used Vim (Evil mode) and then Emacs (vanilla keybindings) for years, so it's not like I'm using bad tools; it's just too fiddly. I feel the same way (to at least some extent) about every language I've used other than Lisp. Lisp + Paredit in Emacs is the most pleasant code-wrangling experience I've ever had, because rather having to think in terms of characters or words, I'm able to think in terms of expressions. This is possible with other languages thanks to technologies like Tree-sitter, but I've found that it's only possible to do reliably in Lisp. When I do it in any other language I don't have an unshakable confidence that the wrangling commands will do exactly what I intend. | ||