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0 pointstestcase_delta2y ago0 comments

I started learning to code this year, and I keep thinking that I would have thrown in the towel if not for ChatGPT. For better or for worse.

The big difference for me is being able to struggle right up until I'm ready to give up, and then ask ChatGPT for insight. Usually my issue is a syntax one, and I have the concepts down (i.e. I was right to solve it using nested if statements, but I forgot I need to put a variable outside a function, for example). This way I get that dopamine hit of being mostly right, and quick feedback on what I need to improve. If not for ChatGPT, I'd be left feeling like I just failed entirely and I'm not getting it at all, which I don't think is the case.

I think the same experience would be achieved with a good teacher, but then I'd need my schedule to overlap, and the feedback on problems would still be often be delayed instead of instant.

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voakbasda2y ago

Using ChatCPT to help you after you have been stuck and struggled would be equivalent to asking a senior. A senior might hallucinate an answer too, but either way you will get pointed in a generally useful direction. That’s usually all it takes

But as a senior, I can’t imagine using an LLM at this stage for solving anything meaningfully complex.

freshpots2y ago

A friend of mine in a senior role uses it all the time and says it 2-3x'd their productivity. He architects everything using experience but simple but time-consuming sub-routines are done via an LLM. He also uses it to create tests for his code and is quite happy with how it performs in these areas.

stephendause2y ago

What language does he program in? ChatGPT and CoPilot have increased my productivity, sure, but I don't know if they've multiplied it by 2, and definitely not 3. I mostly program in Rust, and while they are good, they still often produce things that don't compile. Iterating back and forth to get something that works takes time, and it feels to me like sometimes doing it alone would've been almost as quick.

I could possibly be way off in my estimations, though. A true comparison would be having me do a task with and without it, but of course once I've done it once, the next time I will do it faster.

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pcchristie2y ago

The big thing it's helped me with (also learning) is that my learning style is, after reading a new concept or thinking I get it, imagining fringe/edge cases, and trying to understand the battery limits of the concept and how it fits in with others to ensure I'm comfortable. I'm not explaining this well, but "what's the difference between this method and the one I learnt 3 chapters ago, they seem really similar. Why would I use one over the other, and why is there a need for both to exist?" would be a good example.

Without ChatGPT I'd just ensure I got an exercise right, and move on, half cloudy and uncertain in my understanding. The static content on Codecademy obviously doesn't explain that when first teaching you, but ChatGPT allows you to do ANY such comparison, and explains things exactly as you asked them, complete with demonstration code blocks and said fringe/examples where, in the above example, one method or the other would break or be suboptimal.

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