Yes, LLMs are very useful, when used properly. But the linked change request is not a good example of how they would be used by a typical software developer. The linked pull request is essentially output from a compiler that's been hardcoded.
> Writing individual functions, classes and modules. You have to be good at software architecture and good at prompting to use them in this way - you take on the role of picking out the tasks that can be done independently of the rest of the code.
If you have enough skill and understanding to do this, it means you already have enough general software development experience and domain-specific experience and experience with a specific, existing codebase to be in rarefied air. It's like saying, oh yeah a wrench makes plumbing easy. You just need to turn the wrench, and 25 years of plumbing knowledge to know where to turn it.
> Writing tests - again, if you have the skill and experience to prompt them in the right way.
This is very true and more accessible to most developers, though my big fear is it encourages people to crap out low-value unit tests. Not that they don't love to do that already.
> If you have enough skill and understanding to do this, it means you already have enough general software development experience and domain-specific experience and experience with a specific, existing codebase to be in rarefied air.
Yes, exactly. That's why I keep saying that software developers shouldn't be afraid that they'll be out of a job because of LLMs.
> Writing individual functions, classes and modules. You have to be good at software architecture and good at prompting to use them in this way - you take on the role of picking out the tasks that can be done independently of the rest of the code.
If you have enough skill and understanding to do this, it means you already have enough general software development experience and domain-specific experience and experience with a specific, existing codebase to be in rarefied air. It's like saying, oh yeah a wrench makes plumbing easy. You just need to turn the wrench, and 25 years of plumbing knowledge to know where to turn it.
> Writing tests - again, if you have the skill and experience to prompt them in the right way.
This is very true and more accessible to most developers, though my big fear is it encourages people to crap out low-value unit tests. Not that they don't love to do that already.