

Using it for writing tests is attractive because the way we generally test software sucks. Programs are written abstractly for an unimaginably large number of cases, but only tested for a finite few. It’s so ugly and boring and inexact. I’d be so giddy if a language/system came along that did formal methods properly, enabling me to formally prove correctness in every case. Programming is fun. Proofs are fun. Tests are not fun. And I’m here on Earth to have the most fun.
This is all to say that using LLMs to do the boring work of writing tests is a suboptimal solution for testing software. It fits a general pattern. Yes, you can learn X by having a conversation with an LLM, but I believe it will be a subpar experience compared to forcing yourself to read a professionally-written book on the subject.






They turned Windows into an IoT device. It’s your refrigerator with a TCP/IP stack and a touch screen bolted on the front. How many watts does the fridge use? Oh, I don’t know, but look, it has a digital calendar! How long does it take to cool items down? Who cares! You can use it to set reminders! When will I need to replace the gasket? What? I don’t know. But it can scan barcodes and send it all to the cloud. Isn’t that neat?! Cool, cool, but why does my fridge need to do that?