Testing LLM Effectiveness on Large Codebases: A 10,000+ Line Project Experience
By
jwojtek
8mo ago· 4 min readenInsight
75/100
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Summary
The article challenges the common belief that Large Language Models (LLMs) become ineffective on larger codebases. The author shares their personal experience working with a 10,000+ line code project, demonstrating that LLMs can maintain effectiveness for complex development tasks including making changes, extending functionality, and refactoring in substantial software projects.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledThere's a common belief in the programming world: LLMs collapse once a project gets too big
They're fine for small snippets, bug fixes, or a single file. But when the codebase grows beyond a few thousand lines, the story goes, they lose track of context
Today, I'm already at 10,000+ lines of code in my current project — a system with fairly complex logic and multiple interconnected modules
the workflow is still holding up. I can make changes, extend functionality, and refactor without everything falling
Coding Workflow with LLM on Larger Projects There’s a common belief in the programming world: LLMs collapse once a project gets too big. They’re fine for small snippets, bug fixes, or a single …
