[nemoniac]

The line that stood out for me was that "a 4-hour session of AI coding is more cognitively intense than a 4-hour session of non-AI coding."

Many programmers are rejecting AI coding because they miss the challenge they enjoy getting from conventional programming but this author finds it even more challenging. Or perhaps challenging in a different way?

[sfn42]

I think there are (at least) two types of programmer - I am the kind of programmer who wants everything done right. Others don't care as long as it works and the boss is happy.

I suspect that the type of programmer who enjoys vibe coding is the latter. For me it's pretty tiring to explain everything in excruciating detail, it's often easier to just write the code myself rather than explain in English how to write it.

It feels like I am just doing the hard part of programming all the time - deciding how the app should work and how the code should be structured etc, and I never get those breaks where I just implement my plan.

[bluefirebrand]

I suspect the difference lies in people who think in code versus people who translate their thoughts into code

I think in code and programming concepts when I am writing software . I don't really know how to explain that, but I don't often feel like there is any friction between my thoughts and the code I make

I think that many coders do not have this. They have an extra "translation" step that introduces friction into their workflow

I don't experience this friction, so LLM coding introduces new friction that I don't like

They do experience this friction, so LLM coding doesn't introduce new friction for them, it may transform their previous friction into a new form that is easier for them to navigate

I don't know. Maybe I'm talking out my ass, this is just a random theory based on no real evidence

[kitku]

There is a distinction I believe between challenging and focusing. The difference lies in difficulty (the former being more dificult) and workload (the latter being more intellectualy labor intensive), which is an interesting approach to intellectual menial labor as distinct from intellectual craft.

[Grimblewald]

If you know how to do it well, you just do it well, its hard work but dooable. What is harder is learning to understand why what was written, that looks good, is actually bad. Usually something small, tucked away, or an issue arising from multiple things spanning distinct functions that culminate in a werid issue. That kind of detective work is draining and time consuming. It doesnt come with the emotional boost of looking at your work and feeling pride. Instead you look at something that finally works and feel releif that its over. That alone paves the way to a totally different emotional and cognitive relationship with your work. That is why for me, at least, it is more cogntiviely intense.