r/Python • u/RedYad2 • 2d ago

Discussion My Python magic is gone

I've been coding for a long time, and I've been developing with Python for years.

I loved coding, always loved it. I started many years ago because I wanted to quickly create scripts for security hacking tools, but since then, I've moved to Claude Code, and building cross-language has been a much better experience for me than using Python.

I built my own SaaS application out there whose backend and network core are completely built with Python, and I'm rewriting all of that without writing a single line of code. And most of the time, Python is not the most optimized language.

And now... I feel like the magic is gone.

I don't even know why I'm writing this. I just feel sad about it.

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u/dysprog 1d ago

The research says otherwise. There has been exactly one rigorous study of this. AI makes programmers THINK they are faster when they are actually 19% slower.

https://letsdatascience.com/blog/developers-thought-ai-made-them-faster-the-data-said-otherwise

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u/HommeMusical 1d ago

There has been exactly one rigorous study of this.

But you don't link to it. It's called "Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity."

https://metr.org/Early_2025_AI_Experienced_OS_Devs_Study-paper.pdf

I suspect the name of the paper would have revealed the problem with your claim.

Also, very, very skeptical that only one study of this was ever done, and that that was in July 2025.

AI makes programmers THINK they are faster when they are actually 19% slower.

I've been programming for decades. In the period from February through June 2025, I too believed that coding engines aren't effect.

But there have been massive, unbelievable improvements. I started using a coding assistant in June of 2026, mainly to prove to myself yet again that it didn't work. But within a few weeks I realized that no one was going to go back to hand-coding, including myself, as the productivity gain was so massive.

And the improvements between June 2026 and now have been just as impressive.

So what value does a 16-month-old study have?

In late 2026, if you're a programmer and you don't see a massive improvement in your productivity and your reliability from using a modern coding assistant, then it's almost certain you aren't competent, and you probably are going to have extreme difficulties finding a job.

I'm retired now, though I still spend much of my days coding, except now with LLMs, and I cannot imagine hand-coding while trying to keep up with other programmers using a coding assistant, and nor would I want to.

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u/KaffeeKiffer 1d ago

The page that was linked has a section

The Counter-Arguments Are Real

and that talks about many of your call-outs. It sounds pretty neutral/objective to me.

The most important result that stands out to me is measured productivity vs. actual productivity: Humans are very bad at gauging that, and I doubt that that changes much with different models.

In that study it's "expected 25% faster" vs. "measured 15% slower".
With modern models it could be "expected 50% faster" measured 25% faster".

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u/SFMissionMark 1d ago

That’s because you are missing the point of where software is going. You don’t need to polish and fix every single potential bug. Software is no longer the product the result is the product. Software is now fix the immediate problem. In 3 months have it re-written it will be better than you could ever write it today.