If your project contained original thought does it matter if the IFs and the ELSEs were generated?

I sometimes wonder if people get into this to create an actual working something or they just enjoy sorting colored blocks for the heck of it.

I am on the other extreme end: I don’t give a rat’s ass about the code itself. The spec, the intent, the architecture, the contracts are what I find interesting. All the “file handling” and “logging” and syntax wrangling and caring if some “variable” is on the “stack” or the “heap” I can live without very happily. It’s not that they are uninteresting in and of themselves but I find it hard to justify keeping my focus on these microscopic issues again and again and again and again.

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ryukoposting 20 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

If a photo has strong composition and symbolism, does it matter if the photographer took the photo as opposed to prompting it into existence?

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beering 15 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

An interesting question because photos are mostly machine-generated to begin with. The photographer just hits a button.

	▲	runtime_terror a minute ago \| parent [-]
		"Just hits a button" is an incredibly reductive way to look at photography

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nalinidash 14 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

to many, it does not.

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31 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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TakeItToTen 34 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I have landed here myself. I have always enjoyed writing code, but I find lately that I am getting so much more satisfaction from the process of exploring and designing systems more, and code is simply the substrate.

I am becoming a better architect with AI, because I am spending more mental energy in that lane, getting less embroiled in the nitty-gritty of the code.

	▲	ryandrake 31 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		There was a thread[1] about this the other day! People have different goals, motivations, and reasons for developing. I guess I just like sorting colored blocks. I'll agonize over the code... I really will go back to a class I wrote months ago and ask "Do I really need this member variable?" and "Does this really need to go on the heap or can it live on the stack and be automatically cleaned up?" "Can I use a pImpl C++ pattern here and reduce the number of headers that this header file includes?" 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48316056
	▲	dgellow 14 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I had that the first few months, but that feeling doesnt stay forever. I think a difficulty with that discussion is that some are still in the honeymoon stage, while others are at the “wtf is the point” stage of the relationship with coding harnesses. In my case that took ~1y from using tools like Claude code daily to the point where I lost interest and motivation once I understood the technology contributed negatively to my personal growth.

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mapontosevenths 21 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

To me, English is just another programming language. Some of us will always be better at it than others, and the ones that know other programming languages well will always have an advantage over those who do not.

When you are good at it there can be craft in it still.