C –> Java != Java –> LLM

4 months ago

Advancements in LLMs for software development are often compared to improvements in programming languages, but there's a key difference.
Programming languages changed the intermediate product (source code), while LLMs still produce source code in existing languages.
The intermediate goal of software development is robust, maintainable source code, leading to a binary as the end product.
LLMs don't replace source code with English; the process remains prompt → source code → edits → binary.
Until LLMs are fully autonomous, existing languages will remain the intermediate product, keeping collaboration processes similar but enhanced.
Dynamic interpreted languages may become more popular for intermediate products, enabling live changes to running programs via prompts.

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