Ask HN: Last time you wrote code?

by blinkbaton 3/8/2026, 12:28 AMwith 15 comments

do you keep up with writing syntax? do you do it as a hobby or try to weave it into work? do you do it from scratch or only when it's easier than prompting?

by dokdevon 3/8/2026, 3:02 AM

A few hours ago. I am learning a new language (rust) so I disabled auto complete and AI suggestions. Otherwise AI becomes more of a distraction than a booster.

But for languages I am more confident (like JS and dart), I usually don't write code and only review it.

If it is a throw-away project (like I am only experimenting something or just need something for one time), I don't event look at the code and only focus on the outcomes.

by gethlyon 3/9/2026, 4:05 PM

I usually write code every day but right now I don't have anything important to do. I started writing a graphical text editor / IDE as i wanted to do some GUI stuff, which I never did. But my heart is not in it, so i just randomly write few lines here and there. I am not burnt out, just lack sufficient motivation at this time. But generally i code every day. I had a 6m break from coding 3 years ago and i definitely noticed that I forgot quite a lot of stuff. Although I was back on the horse in few days. But at least I know that the knowledge is not eternal and needs to be constantly engaged.

by apothegmon 3/9/2026, 12:32 PM

Any time the autocomplete doesn’t understand what I’m trying to accomplish, so several times per hour.

LLMs will repeat the patterns they see, and I’m trying to whip a legacy codebase into decent shape before the next phase of feature growth, so no fully generative coding for anything beyond tests and throwaways until that’s done.

And TBH, while I adore neither having to type out the nits of syntax nor having to remember the details of certain APIs, I still get far more enjoyment from working at the code level than the prompt level. So a good AI autocomplete makes for very enjoyable and productive coding.

by daemonologiston 3/8/2026, 2:45 AM

A couple of hours ago. I do it when I need a small change and already know ~exactly what I want to type (which happens frequently), or when I get fed up with the yapper (which happens a couple times a day).

by FergusArgyllon 3/8/2026, 7:40 PM

I'm learning my first lisp (emacs lisp), for learning a language I don't want any assistance whatsoever or it'll never stick. I'm just learning it for the pleasure of understanding it so I'm not actually trying to build something fast.

btw; Lisp is poetic and if you've never learned one, you should!

by raw_anon_1111on 3/8/2026, 2:50 AM

October 2024. Every line of code since then has been written by AI.

There hasn’t been a quarter before then that I haven’t written some type of code since early 1987

by al_borlandon 3/8/2026, 2:34 AM

Tuesday. I tried prompting the latter half of this week, but found it incredibly unfulfilling. I’ll be writing code again on Monday.

by CtrlAlton 3/8/2026, 2:50 AM

for work? with all the tools the company provides, only when it’s faster than prompting. so friday.

by linesofcodeon 3/8/2026, 5:20 AM

September 2024. I’ll never write a line of syntax again. First it was Cursor now it’s Claude.

by runjakeon 3/9/2026, 3:26 PM

I still regularly write stuff myself to stay in practice, because I suspect as some point, some bubble will burst, and I will not have access to the quality of agentic tooling I have today .

So, today.

by blinkbaton 3/8/2026, 12:42 AM

asking because it popped into my head that I hadn't really wrote (or edited more than a few lines of) code in quite a few weeks.

by PaulHouleon 3/8/2026, 2:04 AM

just now.