That whole code is boilerplate that I originally generated using an LLM from the following query write a django endpoint for handling a json payload with user information and storing it in the db. After you making it concise, it’s still over 40 lines of code.
This means that any of this supposed “boilerplate” (you are not even using the right term, more on that in a second) is just AI slop that doesn’t even do a half decent job of what you have been arguing, around getting rid of “boilerplate” that is inconvenient. It is the LLM itself that is creating all this supposed boilerplate!.
Thirdly:
I don’t understand what you think “boilerplate” is. Because 40 lines of code where you define a model, the fields that are serialized through the REST API, and the REST API implementation is not boilerplate. Boilerplate is defined as “sections of code that are repeated in multiple places with little to no variation.” (Wikipedia). Where is the “repeated in multiple places” in this example? If we even took this example further and extended it to other models - where would the duplication be? The fact that you inherit from ModelViewSet? That you inherit from ModelSerializer? There is no boilerplate here! If anything the boilerplate is inside ModelSerializer and ModelViewSet, but that’s object oriented design! You’re inheriting from those classes so you don’t have to do it yourself!.
It’s boilerplate because it’s just lines of code that are spelling out a repetitive pattern that you end up having to mindlessly write over and over. The fact that you continue to refuse to acknowledge this blows my mind to be honest.
It’s boilerplate because it’s just lines of code that are spelling out a repetitive pattern that you end up having to mindlessly write over and over.
And again, I ask you, where is that mindlessly writing over and over code? I have even gone through the trouble of trying to see the problem from your perspective, by looking at ModelViewSet and ModelSerializer where if you squint really hard you could maybe make a case that it is repetitive, but in code that is object oriented, you can’t just say that “oh inheriting from some big class that does 98% of the actual implementation is boilerplate” - because literally all you are doing is inheriting from ModelViewSet and setting three whole fields that are specific to your model. Is three lines boilerplate, when they determine how the entire class behaves and if it works or doesn’t work? I would argue not.
Ah, here we are again. Now you passive aggressively say that I’m just stupid. So, now, who is doing the “low effort trolling” that you claim anyone who disagrees with you does?
It’s neither boilerplate, nor is it interesting code. So I’m unsure what your point is, or why it is being asked as an either-or type of question where I have to pick one. I would appreciate you explaining it further.
As an aside, I had to spend time taking something that you got out of an LLM to get it to the point where it’s small and boring.
I suppose if you want to spend all your mental energy fighting with an LLM and telling it “no, that’s not quite right, why did you make more work for yourself when there was a much easier way to do it”, that is certainly one way to spend precious mental energy. It does seem to be a common pattern that many people have already shared, where they spend lots of time fixing what the LLM generated, and many report that it sucks all the enjoyment out of the creative process.
At least when I have to do the “no, that’s not quite right” with a junior engineer, I am helping someone grow in their career and sharing what I have learned over 20+ years in my craft, and that I am giving back to the next generation, as repayment to the generation that taught me.
LLMs are dead labor. They destroy the future of young engineers and replace with a parody that makes similar mistakes, has to be corrected, just like a junior engineer, but there is no life in it. Just a simulation of one. It destroys joy.
Where?
Where is the boilerplate?
That whole code is boilerplate that I originally generated using an LLM from the following query
write a django endpoint for handling a json payload with user information and storing it in the db. After you making it concise, it’s still over 40 lines of code.Three thoughts.
Firstly:
write a django endpoint for handling a json payload with user information and storing it in the dbAnd yet this LLM failed to consider just using the built in
contrib.auth.Userwhich already stores this information. What about extending the Auth user model?Secondly:
This means that any of this supposed “boilerplate” (you are not even using the right term, more on that in a second) is just AI slop that doesn’t even do a half decent job of what you have been arguing, around getting rid of “boilerplate” that is inconvenient. It is the LLM itself that is creating all this supposed boilerplate!.
Thirdly:
I don’t understand what you think “boilerplate” is. Because 40 lines of code where you define a model, the fields that are serialized through the REST API, and the REST API implementation is not boilerplate. Boilerplate is defined as “sections of code that are repeated in multiple places with little to no variation.” (Wikipedia). Where is the “repeated in multiple places” in this example? If we even took this example further and extended it to other
models - where would the duplication be? The fact that you inherit fromModelViewSet? That you inherit fromModelSerializer? There is no boilerplate here! If anything the boilerplate is insideModelSerializerandModelViewSet, but that’s object oriented design! You’re inheriting from those classes so you don’t have to do it yourself!.It’s boilerplate because it’s just lines of code that are spelling out a repetitive pattern that you end up having to mindlessly write over and over. The fact that you continue to refuse to acknowledge this blows my mind to be honest.
And again, I ask you, where is that mindlessly writing over and over code? I have even gone through the trouble of trying to see the problem from your perspective, by looking at
ModelViewSetandModelSerializerwhere if you squint really hard you could maybe make a case that it is repetitive, but in code that is object oriented, you can’t just say that “oh inheriting from some big class that does 98% of the actual implementation is boilerplate” - because literally all you are doing is inheriting fromModelViewSetand setting three whole fields that are specific to your model. Is three lines boilerplate, when they determine how the entire class behaves and if it works or doesn’t work? I would argue not.I’m sorry, I should not assume that this sort of code does not require a significant cognitive effort to write from some people.
Ah, here we are again. Now you passive aggressively say that I’m just stupid. So, now, who is doing the “low effort trolling” that you claim anyone who disagrees with you does?
Incredible.
So which is it, is this code that’s meaningful and interesting to write that requires cognitive effort from a human, or is it boilerplate?
It’s neither boilerplate, nor is it interesting code. So I’m unsure what your point is, or why it is being asked as an either-or type of question where I have to pick one. I would appreciate you explaining it further.
As an aside, I had to spend time taking something that you got out of an LLM to get it to the point where it’s small and boring.
I suppose if you want to spend all your mental energy fighting with an LLM and telling it “no, that’s not quite right, why did you make more work for yourself when there was a much easier way to do it”, that is certainly one way to spend precious mental energy. It does seem to be a common pattern that many people have already shared, where they spend lots of time fixing what the LLM generated, and many report that it sucks all the enjoyment out of the creative process.
At least when I have to do the “no, that’s not quite right” with a junior engineer, I am helping someone grow in their career and sharing what I have learned over 20+ years in my craft, and that I am giving back to the next generation, as repayment to the generation that taught me.
LLMs are dead labor. They destroy the future of young engineers and replace with a parody that makes similar mistakes, has to be corrected, just like a junior engineer, but there is no life in it. Just a simulation of one. It destroys joy.