site banner
PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   2935 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 19, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

What tools are people now using for LLM coding? Claude code?

More importantly, what tools are people now using for expert level code that isn't trivial Javascript / Python boilerplate or doesn't interface to trivial apis using such languages?

I do such coding for living for many years now. My experience is in no way exclusive, people use a lot of tools, but what I have been using is Java/Scala/Python, with a little bit of C/C++, a good IDE (JetBrains is pretty good at that, though a lot of people I know also use VS Code) and a lot of head-scratching. All the rest is secondary. So far my conviction is if your main tool is LLM then either a) it's not "serious" coding - and by this I mean no disrespect, a lot of coding needs are quite well covered by trivial JS/Python boilerplate, and there's nothing wrong with that, just as a lot of medical needs are covered by "take this Tylenol and call me if it doesn't resolve itself by the end of the week", but we don't think that's all of medicine, do we? - or, more dangerous, b) you are dangerously deluded as to what coding tasks LLMs are appropriate to. In the latter case, may God have mercy on your soul, because you will find out soon.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats