Reflections on AI-Assisted Coding: Returning to Manual Programming After Two Years
By
mobitar
Lightly browned and well buttered. A solid pick from the rack.
Summary
The article reflects on the author's two-year experience with AI-assisted coding (vibecoding) and their decision to return to writing code manually. It describes the typical progression of AI coding adoption: initial excitement over simple tasks, amazement at handling larger projects, concerns about job displacement, and eventual realization of AI's limitations. The author notes that serious engineers using AI for real work follow a predictable development arc, but ultimately finds that AI agents produce code that looks good in isolation but lacks respect for the whole system's architecture and coherence.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledMost people's journey with AI coding starts the same: you give it a simple task. You're impressed. So you give it a large task. You're even more impressed.
If you've persisted past this point: congratulations, you understand AI coding better than 99% of people.
Serious engineers using AI to do real work and not just weekend projects largely also follow a predictable development arc.
Agents write units of changes that look good in isolation. They are consistent with themselves and your prompt. But respect for the whole, there is not.
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