Gitanjali Venkatraman does wonderful illustrations of complex subjects (which is why I was so happy to work with her on our Expert Generalists article). She has now published the latest in her series of illustrated guides: tackling the complex topic of Mainframe Modernization In it she illustrates the history and value of mainframes, why modernization […]
Writing Fragments
If you’re a regular reader of my site, you’ll have noticed that in the last few months I’ve been making a number of “fragments” posts. Such a post is a short post with a bunch of little, unconnected segments. These are usually a reference to something I’ve found on the web, sometimes a small thought […]
Fragments Dec 11
Why does AI write like… that (NYT, gift link). Sam Kriss delves into the quiet hum of AI writing. AI’s work is not compelling prose: it’s phantom text, ghostly scribblings, a spectre woven into our communal tapestry. ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ Emily Bache has written a set of Test Desiderata, building on some earlier writing from Kent Beck. […]
Expert Generalists
Writing a sophisticated computer program often requires a lot of detailed knowledge. If we do this in Java, we need to know the syntax of the language, the wide range of libraries available to assist us in the work, the various tools required to verify and build our programs. If we do this in Python […]
Generative AI in software and essaying
Korny Sietsma has a great example of how using an LLM for coding is very helpful but with limitations… and a thoughtful general essay on why the hype and the immovable skeptics are both missing the train. While here, a professor of poetry ponders (gift link) on the value and limits of AI with writing: […]
Expert Generalists
Writing a sophisticated computer program often requires a lot of detailed knowledge. If we do this in Java, we need to know the syntax of the language, the wide range of libraries available to assist us in the work, the various tools required to verify and build our programs. If we do this in Python […]
Who is LLM
It’s become a common habit for developers to give Large Language Models (LLMs) a persona when working with them. I describe four of them, a stubborn donkey, a genie, a slot machine, and Uriah Heep. more… Source link
Expert Generalists
Writing a sophisticated computer program often requires a lot of detailed knowledge. If we do this in Java, we need to know the syntax of the language, the wide range of libraries available to assist us in the work, the various tools required to verify and build our programs. If we do this in Python […]
Partner with the AI, throw away the code
Summary: a personal experience on how AI helped complete a non-trivial programming tasks. A difficult task This month I spent a whole week working on a really difficult algorithmic problem, made more difficult by complicated business rules, which I wasn’t able to get the client to agree to simplify. The problem was an API endpoint […]
I still care about the code
Ever since AI coding assistance started gaining traction I’ve heard people say, “Oh, so at some point we might not even have to care about the code anymore, it’s like Assembly, we certainly don’t look at THAT anymore.” Recently, with enhanced agentic capabilities and the coinage of “vibe coding” there has been a new spike […]
