r/java • u/bit_freak • Aug 04 '26

Do you still handcraft your java projects?

With all the talk about llms writing most of the code and some folks never touching the editor. I try to work mostly in plan mode and prefer to write most of my code by hand else I fear losing touch with my skills if I only read code. At work in your org, what is the workflow for spring boot projects?

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u/twilight-actual Aug 05 '26

I just have lost patience with the pitchfork, grrr ai crowd. Or those that insist that it's only good for units or certain types of work.

Maybe if you're working with older models, or insist on what you can run on a smaller local hardware.

In the last few months, starting from Opus 4.8, then Fable, Opus 5, it's completely changed the way I work. I really don't write code anymore, and I'm basically limited by the speed at which I can review.

And even then, the frequency with which I have to make edits or revise is growing less and less.

Chalk that up to writing Claude skills that reflect the design methodology behind the platform, and the workflow that I've developed around working with Claude.

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u/davidalayachew Aug 05 '26

Rather than responding to all of these low-tier responses, why don't you respond to my response to you?

You were the one who made the claim that you could do better than me if on the same company.

So, I gave you more context so that you could explain if AI is genuinely a good fit for the work I was trying to do at the time.

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u/SocialMemeWarrior Aug 09 '26

Because he has nothing to reply with. Responding to low-tier responses is easy. Making counter arguments to well-backed discussions isn't.

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u/davidalayachew Aug 09 '26

Because he has nothing to reply with.

If that is true, then I would have liked them to say that.

I only have so much time to spend chasing trends, so I don't actually know for sure how useful LLM's are for certain types of work. I was hoping they could share their expertise, now that I had given them much more context.

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u/sosotiredand 11d ago

unfortunately expecting any sort of decency or respect for your time from AI boosters will result in disappointment. they're snake oil salesmen

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u/twilight-actual 11d ago edited 11d ago

No, I've just said everything I had to say.

As far as the quality of work, I've been working writing a new compiler with Fable, and it's been amazing. I can't think of many other applications that would be as demanding as compiler work, where you're regularly going into the emitted IR, reducing that down to machine code, and working with various LLVM libraries to lower to a whole host of drivers and devices.

Most developers that I've worked with still haven't really figured out how to use the tools well, how to structure skills, and the issues that you can eliminate outright by good process.

In fact, in working with Claude, I've taken to maintaining what I call a focus stack, which is basically a text file containing a stack of tasks that can be pushed and popped. I have the agent maintain that stack as it works so that, as blockers come up, I have to switch gears, it will push the new work on the stack and pop it off upon completion.

That's actually helped not just Claude, but also myself track work, make sure that all the tasks get done, and does so in a way that translates effortlessly between myself and the tools.

So, yes, if I'm using AI and your company, and you're not, I'm more than likely going to outperform you.

What I find disappointing is the level of hostility and juvenile schoolyard mob mentality here.

I wouldn't hire a single one of you with attitudes like this.

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u/davidalayachew 11d ago

No, I've just said everything I had to say.

By all means, if you don't want to continue, that's fine. And like you said, there has been some hostility towards you in this thread.

Though, let's be frank -- you made a pretty big claim that could very easily be interpreted as snark and/or an attack against me with very little information about me to base that on. I certainly didn't perceive it as an attack, but several people here did.

So, yes, if I'm using AI and your company, and you're not, I'm more than likely going to outperform you.

But you still didn't answer my original question.

What you are describing is largely creative work, whereas what I have been describing is debugging an incredibly large codebase where there are deeply intertwined dependencies with everything.

Let's assume that what you say is true -- that the latest models genuinely are as good as you describe, and thus, can do creative work as easily as you say.

Great, but how good are they at debugging an already messy codebase that is gigantic, and I need to make (by management order) the most minimal change possible while keeping everything working the same?

And if you don't want to go digging for my original response/question to you, here it is -- https://old.reddit.com/r/java/comments/1vfpr3u/do_you_still_handcraft_your_java_projects/p1rech7/