the art of programming and why i won't use llm

as llms get better and better at writing code, more and more people, at least on twt, have started to incorporate llms into their workflow. most people seem to agree that llms have been a game changer for coding, praising them for how much they have improved their productivity, how much easier it is to write code, and claiming that programmers who refuse to use them are “not using them correctly” and will eventually get left behind in my opinion, the effectiveness of llms in coding at their current state is vastly overblown. even if llms were as good as what avid users of them claim, i still won’t see myself using it in any meaningful capacity.

the art of programming

programming can be broken down into two parts - solving problems algorithmically, breaking problems into steps that computers can follow within some contraints, thus forming a solution to the original problem; and expressing the solution in a way that the computer can understand.

both parts provide the programmers with an infinite canvas on which they can express their creativitiy. there are practically limitless ways to approach and solve a problem, and a practically infinite way to express a solution to the problem. hence, programming is a form of self-expression - it is an art form. what is produced through programming is a kind of art - an art few appreciate.

i am a programming artist

in that sense, i see myself as an artist, one that expresses his creative self through programming. i enjoy creating programming art, because only through it do i find my true self, one who has a burning passion to create and build things.

llm is not for me

using llm to write code is like asking an artist to paint for you. if you only want the end result, by all means! if you are like me who enjoy the process of painting, then why would you bother automating the fun part away? one may say, “but i am only using llm to write code. i am still doing the problem solving myself!”. to me, programming isn’t complete if i don’t get to express the solution in code myself. it isn’t my art if i don’t create it myself.

a sad reality

it is sad to me just how much people are trying to automate away programming and delegating it to a black box that can’t even count letters in a word sometimes, even going as far as trying to emulate a software engineer on top of the black box. does no one not find programming fun anymore? does no one care enough about programming to go further beyond getting things working “well enough”? is this just another case of availability bias?

please don’t take this as a judgemental piece to anyone that i am alluring to. it’s fine to not find programming enjoyable. it’s fine to just want things to work. i am just disappointed at how the ones who care appear to be an ever dying breed.