I am happier writing code by hand

3 months ago

The author experiences depression and lethargy when using LLMs like claude-code for coding, feeling that it detracts from the joy of coding.
Coding is seen as an essential and fun part of software engineering, helping to understand the problem space and ensuring correctness.
Using LLMs for 'vibe coding' can be addictive but leads to passive acceptance of changes and reduces deep thinking, which is crucial for knowledge workers.
The author now uses LLMs like Claude in a controlled manner, providing context manually to stay engaged and maintain a flow state.
Optimizing for happiness is prioritized over potential short-term productivity gains from generating entire features with LLMs.

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