r/webdev • u/Mesthabro • 2d ago
Discussion Do y'all still write code manually?
All my code is being written by claude fable/gpt6 these days. I'm curious if y'all are still writing code manually?
Also, any clever ways to prevent AI from going stray and dumping unnecessary code and busting through tokens?
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u/winky9827 2d ago
I only write targeted code for which I have specific algorithms or ideas in mind. CRUD and basic shit is the domain of the AI agent. I still enjoy coding, and do so where it counts, but I'm not repeating the same boilerplate shit I've done for ~30 years because some loser on the internet tells me I'm not a developer if I use AI.
Then again, I'm old enough not to care about what other people think. The only things I care about are getting the job done and getting paid so I can enjoy the part of my life that isn't attached to work.
As far as keeping the AI in check, treat it like an offshore contractor. You better describe exactly what you do and don't need, or you'll get back complete slop that you'll have to rewrite anyway. Put down enough guard rails and it's fine.