Programming thread

  • 🔎 If you see an alert for analytics.usips.org, this is a self-hosted system I am running as a test. It is GDPR compliant and collects no invasive information.
  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Writing code by hand is still an important skill.
Amen to that. All my work code is done via LLMs/agents now, whereas all my personal projects are handwritten. I find that's a good line to draw, so that I can still think about design patterns, efficiencies and implementations but then just slop produce at work without becoming true niggercattle.
 
Transistors can be thought of as little switches, or like parts of plumbing, and logic gates are built from them and the wires connecting them. I don't know, it seems really simple when presented in this manner, doesn't it?
I think the missing link between logic gates/wiring and image generation, software execution, PC booting and the overall utilities of a PC is what keeps people from stop seeing computers as sorcery.
 
Claude is surprisingly capable at doing Scratch. For shits and giggles I've uploaded an empty Scratch project and asked it to make a fizzbuzz. It did it pretty much instantly. (I've also attempted this with Grok, took like 5 minutes instead and checked the Scratch wiki multiple times and stuff). Surprised, I asked it to generate a simple endless runner surprisingly, it did work. Though it made an sb3 python library, which then it used to generate the project in python. Kinda interesting honestly.
 
fuck-off.png

It happened again. "Up to 28 minutes" suck my balls one at a time, no.
 
Though it made an sb3 python library, which then it used to generate the project in python.
lol I've seen things like that sometimes when doing sanity checks on a local agent after e.g. rebuilding/updating llama.cpp or similar. I'll crank up the full stack (Hermes Agent, qwen3-coder-next on llama.cpp, etc.) and test it by saying "compute 2+2." Fucking smartass barfs up a python script to do it instead of just computing it directly, which cracks me up every time (as its approach does technically work, by producing a program that correctly calculates 2+2 and prints the correct result (4)).
 
lol I've seen things like that sometimes when doing sanity checks on a local agent after e.g. rebuilding/updating llama.cpp or similar. I'll crank up the full stack (Hermes Agent, qwen3-coder-next on llama.cpp, etc.) and test it by saying "compute 2+2." Fucking smartass barfs up a python script to do it instead of just computing it directly, which cracks me up every time (as its approach does technically work, by producing a program that correctly calculates 2+2 and prints the correct result (4)).

I mean, that's a sensible approach (to the extent that any use of Python can be a sensible approach, anyway) if you want it to give you a correct answer deterministically. Otherwise you're rolling dice, and with a question as simple as that, the correct answer is going to have pretty strong weights, but the odds that it will say "2 + 2 = orange" are not zero.
 
Last edited:
Question to you nerds. How do you avoid getting crosseyed and woozy when programming cuz this shit is a snooooozefest.

It's okay to find this boring. Despite what the "learn to code" types might think, it's not a hobby or job for anybody more than rock collecting, astronomy, or so on. I had a friend who went to college to become a programmer but found it so dull that he changed majors after the first semester. He got an MBA instead and is probably making at least ten times more than me.

A more helpful answer will depend on why you're programming in the first place. If it's just as a hobby, then just go do something else instead. If it's for a class, drop out and take the bad grade. If it's for a degree and you're not in too deep already, look into changing majors. But if it's too late to just do something else instead, try adding some background noise - music or YouTube videos. Or if you have access to a convertible or standing desk, that can help too.
 
Last edited:
It's okay to find this boring. Despite what the "learn to code" types might think, it's not a hobby or job for anybody more than rock collecting, astronomy, or so on. I had a friend who went to college to become a programmer but found it so dull that he changed majors after the first semester. He got an MBA instead and is probably making at least ten times more than me.

A more helpful answer will depend on why you're programming in the first place. If it's just as a hobby, then just go do something else instead. If it's for a class, drop out and take the bad grade. If it's for a degree and you're not in too deep already, look into changing majors. But if it's not too late to just do something else instead, try adding some background noise - music or YouTube videos. Or if you have access to a convertible or standing desk, that can help too.
This is a shockingly intelligent response to my incredibly retarded post. Thanks man.
 
I mean, that's a sensible approach (to the extent that any use of Python can be a sensible approach, anyway) if you want it to give you a correct answer deterministically. Otherwise you're rolling dice, and with a question as simple as that, the correct answer is going to have pretty strong weights, but the odds that it will say "2 + 2 = orange" are not zero.
I didn't say it wasn't right (in fact, I literally lol'd because it was technically correct). I said it was funny. In complete fairness, I'd have accepted "2+2=orange" for that particular test because it's a check for a pulse, not adequate O2 to the brain, or even the presence of a brain for that matter.
 
One of the checks I learned to verify thinking is preserved is to ask it to think of two ten digit numbers with out using tools but only tell the user one. Then in the thinking trace you can see both. Then ask for the secret second one and make sure it was the one in the trace.
Without this working on a thinking model they get confused on every tool call.
 

A video about how programming is becoming a mere intellectual hobby. A 21st-century crossword puzzle. I know it’s right but it still pains to hear it.
Yeah. I read Plebbit's r/gamedev and you regularly have popular posts about game dev being dead. How LLMs will enable anyone to make games and make it impossible to get your game noticed. Or how you can't even post devlogs cause if you have a cool idea, someone will just vibecode a clone of your game and post it on Steam.
And if you're a programmer who doesn't need them, you still can't avoid using them cause you'll be outcompeted by those who do.
 
Back
Top Bottom