A developer asks if others prefer writing code manually rather than relying on AI tools, expressing concern that AI-generated code reduces the joy of coding and makes it harder to fully understand what each piece of code does.
Background
- This is a discussion thread on Hacker News (HN), a social news website run by startup accelerator Y Combinator that is popular among software engineers, founders, and tech enthusiasts.
- The poster is asking fellow developers whether they still prefer "writing code manually" — i.e., typing out each line themselves — rather than using AI-powered coding assistants (such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or ChatGPT) that generate or autocomplete code.
- A growing tension in the industry: AI tools can dramatically boost productivity, but many developers feel they reduce the craft and understanding of their work. The poster specifically worries they no longer fully grasp code they didn't write themselves, which can lead to bugs, security issues, or shallow learning.
- "Joy of coding" is a recurring theme in software culture — the intrinsic satisfaction of solving problems and building things line by line, which some feel is being eroded by AI generation.