Feasgar Math,
a chairdean!
Good afternoon, friends!
Repeat this
(fesgar mah)
Is mise Cory
Tha mi ailtire bathar-bog
Tha mi ag obair an-dràsta aig Voze
My name is Cory. I am a software architect. I currently work at Voze
Tha mi ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig
agus a-nis, tha thusa cuideachd
I am learning Scottish Gaelic.
and now, you are too.
Tha mi tolichte a bhi an seo còmhla ribh an-diugh
I am happy to be here with you today.
Cory Brown
Architect
Developer Multiplier
JavaScript acolyte
@ voze
The Increasing Importance Of Simplicity In Code In The Age Of A.I.
A.I. In Context
I love technology! But you know what I don't like?...
This A.I.
In January, I lost my job.
(that's a whole talk in it self)
Fear took me
Irrational
(and rational)
anxiety
Is my career over?
A.I. Expert
One weird trick
Use this today!
DISCLAIMER
Amataure intrest in history
Been doing this for a minute
A story.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Printing_and_writing_materials_-_their_evolution_%281904%29_%2814777458662%29.jpg
1440
anno domini
- Distribution of Misinformation
- Worker Displacement
- Disrupted Power Structures & Institutions
- Loss of Quality
- "Dangerous" Ideas
Printing Press
Great Engine for Chaos
1450 - 1750
anno domini
Distribution of Misinformation
Distribution of Misinformation
Worker Displacement
Crafts and craftmenship are destroyed when production is commodotized.
Loss of Quality
New information technologies enable ideas previously on the fringe to recieve a wider audience
"Dangerous" Ideas
1501
anno domini
New information technologies enable ideas previously on the fringe to recieve a wider audience
"Dangerous" Ideas
1517
anno domini
1533
anno domini
Disrupted Power Structures
- Democratization of Information
- More and Varied Jobs
- Dispersed Power Structures
- Wider Access/Craftsmanship as Status Symbol
- Better Ideas (eventually) Rise to the Top
Printing Press
Great Engine for Human Flourishing
Print culture was a critical component in the shaping of U.S. History by quickly spreading news and opinions to a wider audience than ever before, encouraging people's interest in politics, literature, and science during the Enlightenment Period influenc[ing] the increase of literacy in colonialist society. Newspapers, books, art, and other mediums were now being shared with almost eighty-percent of the population.
https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/print-culture-throughout-the-enlightenment-period/hm1oK8qkgaW8pARn
The spread and distribution of ideas
Democratization of Information
Even those who couldn’t read were impacted by these revolutionary ideas. When Thomas Paine published “Common Sense” in 1776, despite a literacy rate of only 15% in the American colonies, more copies of the pamphlet were printed and sold than there were people living in the colonies! This proves how information can spread even to those who can’t directly access it.
https://magazine.machinedalal.com/the-printing-press-how-one-invention-changed-the-world/
The spread and distribution of ideas
Democratization of Information
The English philosopher Francis Bacon, a key figure in the development of the scientific method, identified the printing press as one of the three inventions that fundamentally changed the world. For centuries, science had been largely a solitary pursuit. Scholars were often separated by geography, language, and the slow, error-prone process of hand-copying texts.
https://magazine.machinedalal.com/the-printing-press-how-one-invention-changed-the-world/
The spread and distribution of ideas
Democratization of Information
[T]he huge demand for printed material spawned the creation of an entirely new industry of printers, brick-and-mortar booksellers and enterprising street peddlers. Among those who got his start as a printer's apprentice was future Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin.
More and Varied Jobs
Books came to serve as a means to self-education as well as to offer entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the already educated. The range of materials in print, and the use of printed matter for transactions of all kinds, was unprecedented.
Lithography, chromolithography, and also photography added new possibilities to image production and reproduction, and styles of journalism as well as illustration reflected these opportunities.
https://www.hob.gseis.ucla.edu/HoBCoursebook_Ch_9.html
More and Varied Jobs
More and varied ideas leads to more and decentralized power structures
Dispersed Power Structures
Immediately prior to the invention of the printing press, Christians were essentially under one of two heads; The Catholic church in Rome, and the Orthodox Church in Constantinople.
https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches
Today there are over 2.6 billion Christians. The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of over 352 member churches which represents only a small fraction of the worlds Christians (0.5 billion).
https://thinkingwest.com/2024/09/05/the-printing-revolution-how-mass-media-destabilized-the-west/
Cheaper access to information led to a massive growth in literacy, fueling desire for acccess to even more information.
Wider Access to information
- Democratization of Information
- More and Varied Jobs
- Dispersed Power Structures
- Wider Access/Craftsmanship as Status Symbol
- Better Ideas (eventually) Rise to the Top
Printing Press
Great Engine for Human Flourishing
Photo by Nicolas Hoizey on Unsplash
Photo by Mike Newbry on Unsplash
Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash
Photo by Nadir sYzYgY on Unsplash
First Principles
A.I. Amplifies what you are doing well
And what your are doing poorly.
A.I. writes most of my code!
I'm 10x more efficient at my job!
Who has to diagnose a bug?
Who validates the code A.I. writes?
Who's going to learn how to code?
Photo by Random Mono on Unsplash
Photo by Martijn Baudoin on Unsplash
Photo by Martin Adams on Unsplash
Programming, when stripped of all it's circumstantial irrelevancies, boils down to no more and no less than very effective thinking so as to avoid unmastered complexity, to very vigorous separation of your many different concerns.
Edsger W. Dijkstra
Programming, when stripped of all it's circumstantial irrelevancies, boils down to no more and no less than very effective thinking so as to avoid unmastered complexity, to very vigorous separation of your many different concerns.
Code
Programming, when stripped of all it's circumstantial irrelevancies, boils down to no more and no less than very effective thinking so as to avoid unmastered complexity, to very vigorous separation of your many different concerns.
Code is a circumstantial irrelevancy
Programming, when stripped of all it's circumstantial irrelevancies, boils down to no more and no less than very effective thinking so as to avoid unmastered complexity, to very vigorous separation of your many different concerns.
Complexity
Programming, when stripped of all it's circumstantial irrelevancies, boils down to no more and no less than very effective thinking so as to avoid unmastered complexity, to very vigorous separation of your many different concerns.
Complexity can be inherent or circumstantial
Circumstantial complexity is unnecessary
Circumstantial should not be mastered, it should be eliminated
Programming, when stripped of all it's circumstantial irrelevancies, boils down to no more and no less than very effective thinking so as to avoid unmastered complexity, to very vigorous separation of your many different concerns.
Separation of concerns
Programming, when stripped of all it's circumstantial irrelevancies, boils down to no more and no less than very effective thinking so as to avoid unmastered complexity, to very vigorous separation of your many different concerns.
Separation of concerns is your first, and most important responsibility
Yet it is the least understood quality
And takes the longest to master.
You are still responsible for code, but writing it is not your most valuable skill set.
Programming, when stripped of all it's circumstantial irrelevancies, boils down to no more and no less than very effective thinking so as to avoid unmastered complexity, to very vigorous separation of your many different concerns.
Working code is not the same thing as good code.
Familiar code is not the same thing as readable code
Simple is not easy
Simplicity is a prerequisite for reliablity
Edsger W. Dijkstra
Simple is not entangled
The meaning of simple means unentangled, not twisted together with something else.
Rich Hickey: Simple made Easy
Common code is not the same thing as simple code
Simple does not mean 'I already know what it means'.
Rich Hickey: Simple made Easy
Simple is not the default
The second law may be formulated by the observation that the entropy of isolated systems left to spontaneous evolution cannot decrease, as they always tend toward a state of thermodynamic equilibrium
Second Law of Thermodynamics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics
Simple takes work
Simple is not stateful
Note: This slide was taken nearly verbatim from Rich Hickey's excellent 2011 talk "Simple made easy"
https://github.com/matthiasn/talk-transcripts/blob/master/Hickey_Rich/SimpleMadeEasy.md
- Complects value and time
- It is easy, in that it is at hand
- Interweaves everything it touches, directly or indirectly
- Not mitigated by modules or encapsulation
State
-
Tests
-
Refactoring
-
Type Safety
-
Disentangling
-
Correct Boundaries
-
Functions
-
Eliminating State
Unquestioningly accept what ever A.I. gives you as long as it "works"(tm)
Spending the time to train your A.I. tools to appropriate styles and give enough context to produce a good output.
You are responsible for the code you commit.
You will have to maintain it.
🔥 take
In 5 years there will be more developer jobs than there are today.
🔥 take
A.I. lowers the barier to entry to the floor
🔥 take
1000x start-ups
🔥 take
99% will fail
🔥 take
1% will succeed
10x the number of all start-ups today
🔥 take
All of them "Vibe Coded"
Tapadh leibh, a charaidean
365jsthings.tech
https://www.linkedin.com/in/1stdraftdesign/
The importance of simplicity in code in the age of AI
By Cory Brown
