[lovecg]

Steelmanning the "we must force tool usage" position: it's possible that a tool does increase productivity, but there's either a steep learning curve (productivity only improves after sustained usage) or network effects (most people must use it for anyone to benefit).

No opinion on whether or not this applies to the current moment. But maybe someone should try forcing Dvorak layout on everyone or something like that for a competitive edge!

[resonious]

I once had a boss who saw me use Vim and was really impressed with how quickly I could jump around files and make precision edits. He tried getting the other devs (not many, < 5) to use Vim too but it didn't quite pan out.

I would guess that interest, passion, and motivation all play a role here. It's kind of like programming itself. If you sit people down and make them program for awhile, some will get good at it and some won't.

[eCa]

> I would guess that interest, passion, and motivation all play a role here.

And, to use less pointed language, people’s brains are wired differently. What works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another, even with similar interest, passion, and motivation.

[lelandfe]

Your old boss probably would have been a bit chastened if he knew said devs would then be spending their hours learning how to exit Vim instead of programming

[raverbashing]

Vim's learning curve is much steeper to be honest

[procaryote]

Coding agents seem to be in the fun paradox of "it's so easy to use, anyone can code!" and "using it productively is a deep skill, and we have to force people to use it so they learn"

[lovecg]

But it’s both, isn’t it? It’s so easy to use, anyone without any coding experience whatsoever can produce a somewhat working prototype. It’s hard to use well, most experienced developers will end up with net negative productivity without learning what works and what doesn’t.

[ozgrakkurt]

Programming isn’t a government desk job. The interface between programmer and company should be the output only, they can’t force a programmer to use w/e bs they think is good at the time

[bagacrap]

Can you come up with other examples of forced tool usage that retrospectively made sense?