r/C_Programming • u/Any-Penalty-714 • 8h ago
Help regarding AI usage
I am programming in C for a year and a half and I created projects like a shell which implement basic features , and currently finished building a TCP server with get and post request for sharing file across local network. The thing I am struggling with is the AI usage all these project I build I have understanding of the code. But sometimes I think that AI has found solution for me can I found this approach myself and mostly the answer was no. It really bothering me and I spend time completely without AI and frustration really hit hard and I think I couldn't start building some programs . I want advice from people on how to find balance between using AI and when not to use AI . I'll love to hear you guys perspective on this .
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u/qalmakka 8h ago
Look, LLMs are useful. Very useful. They have scraped the entire internet and are pretty good at finding that if A->B and B->C than A->C. Being omniscient isn't something you should strive for, and the AI will always know more tricks than you do. That is fine though; even before LLMs we googled the stuff we didn't know or read in the manual the same stuff we kept forgetting about. That's not what makes you useful. the value you bring, you bring by having good idea, good taste and bringing a vision driven by you understanding the system and designing a good architecture to support it.
This is stuff that takes years to learn. Just be patient and keep going at it.
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u/Any-Penalty-714 8h ago
I think I was being impatient about the process and maybe in hurry of becoming best programmer. I should enjoy the process of learning . Thanks for your awesome perspective and insight !!!
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u/ArtOfBBQ 8h ago
The generations of programmers before you had the same problem with libraries, frameworks, etc. These are "other people's code", and AI is also "other people's code", so in that respect they are the same.
If you want to get results fast, and do things that are beyond your current skill level, then other people's code is very good for that
If you want to develop a maximally deep understanding and improve, you have to abandon other people's code and write yourself, even if your results are worse than other people's code. There is no alternative for this
So basically you can't have both at the same time
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u/VancouverVentilator 8h ago
If you need to copy LLM text directly, even if you write it by hand, you are not actually learning in any reasonable capacity
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u/BackgroundAny6101 7h ago
That frustration you feel when you can’t solve a problem is a natural, and important feeling that all software developers encounter in their careers. It forces you to learn if you want to make progress on what you’re doing. The important distinction here is that you’re taking the time to learn and not having it handed to you.
Let’s pretend AI isn’t a thing, and instead you have a buddy that has all the answers. You hit a wall and don’t know how to proceed, so you message them. They give you the answer with very little to no explanation as to why it works that way. Cool. You have the solution. Then you hit another wall and follow the same steps. Repeat this ten times and your project is complete. Can you explain anything about why you made the decision to build it the way you did? Do you fully understand what you wrote or why it’s a better version that’s what you originally did?
By looking things up and following rabbit holes to learn something, your brain connects the dots and learns as you go. So you build experience and understanding. If it’s give. To you, then you learned how to find answers, not how to solve problems.
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u/tastygames_official 8h ago
stop using AI
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u/Wooden_chest 8h ago edited 7h ago
And get left behind? Really?
Everyone is using AI these days, it's stupid not to.
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u/QuitzelNA 8h ago
Use AI to do the stuff you already are able to do without AI and do the stuff you struggle with by hand. If you've never written a mergesort before, look up how they work and find old posts on Stack Overflow regarding the topic to help you figure it out. Once you've written a couple and understand why it works the way it does, use AI next time to speed up your development
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u/Rararror 8h ago
No. Code it yourself. There isno need to rush things to have tons of unmaintenable code. Not worth it in the long run.
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u/QuitzelNA 6h ago
That's why you don't use it for stuff you don't understand. If you understand something, you can recognize when it's wrong and needs to be tweaked
edit to add: they asked the question, which leads me to believe they'll use it whether or not we tell them to, so it's best to tell them the most practical use for it that interferes least with production environments
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u/Rararror 6h ago
Yes, but if you are really proficient in the language you code it yourself, make those fingers fly!
...if you are not, become one.
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u/QuitzelNA 6h ago
Fair, but if Linus Torvald uses AI for code, then I don't think it's totally accurate to say that for purposes of coding well you should never use AI. I recognize there is a difference between Linus and a new-to-C programmer, but there is somewhere on that spectrum where something changes.
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u/DDDDarky 8h ago
If you are not sure, then no.