this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2026
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Programming
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I've been using these for constrained, boring development tasks since they first came out. "Pro" versions too. Like converting code from one language to another, or adding small features to existing code bases. Things I don't really want to bother taking weeks to learn, when I know I'll only be doing them once. They work fine if you take baby steps, make sure you do functional/integrated testing as you go (don't trust their unit tests--they're worthless), and review EVERYTHING generated. Also, make sure you have a good, working repo version you can always revert to.
Another good use is for starting boilerplate scaffolding (like, a web server with a login page, a basic web UI, or REST APIs). But the minute you go high-level, they just shit the bed.
The key point in that article is the "90%" one (in my experience it's more like 75%). Taking a project from POC/tire-kicking/prototype to production is HARD. All the shortcuts you took to get to the end fast have to be re-done. Sometimes, you have to re-architect the whole thing to scale up to multiple users vs just a couple. There's security, and realtime monitoring, and maybe compliance/regulatory things to worry about. That's where these tools offer no help (or worse, hallucinate bad help).
Ultimately, there's no substitute for battle-tested, scar-tissued, human experience.