Top all-time · #2424
Terrible Software
Personal blog · terriblesoftware.orgcareerprogrammingai
Terrible Software is a personal blog at terriblesoftware.org about career, programming and ai. Since 2024, 31 different Hacker News readers have linked it 52 times, most often “AI Can Write Your Code. It Can't Do Your Job”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-02, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (6) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Terrible Software's posts on AI-written code, engineering careers and promotions are linked in HN threads. One commenter calls its earlier post on AI and code great on its own.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 6 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Software | Engineering Leadership | Tech
Most-linked posts?
- AI Can Write Your Code. It Can't Do Your Job6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2025-12-11
- Nobody Gets Promoted for Simplicity5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2026-03-03
- What Makes You Senior4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2025-11-25
- The Brain Sandwich4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2026-10-02
- "Good Taste" Is Just Experience3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2026-03-27
- Life Happens at 1x Speed3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2026-01-08
- I Still Write Code as an Engineering Manager3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2026-01-22
- We've Been Here Before2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-12-14
- Why Your 'Harmonious' Team Is Failing2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-03-14
What Hacker News says?
Sounds a bit like the brain sandwich: https://terriblesoftware.org/2026/10/02/the-brain-sandwich/
Comment linking /2026/10/02/the-brain-sandwich/
on “Ask HN: How to deal with shipping AI-written code you don't understand?”Submitted Don't avoid workplace politics as a story · 594 points
HN discussionFrom the blog he linked to: "I’m going to try designing something way more ambitious." This is how you end up with unnecessary complexity [1]. The best engineers don't aim for "designing something ambitious", instead they come up with the simplest possible design. They take something that seems complex and make it simple. Unfortunately that's not how engineers are evaluated [2]. [1] https://goomics.net/316 [2] https…
Comment linking /2026/03/03/nobody-gets-promoted-for-simplicity/
on “First Principles Thinking”Submitted Mistakes as a new manager as a story · 347 points
HN discussionit’s linked in the blog, but the prior post is great on its own too: https://terriblesoftware.org/2025/12/11/ai-can-write-your-co... it does seem like the skepticism is fading. I do think engineers that outright refuse to use AI (typically on some odd moral principle) are in for a bad time
Comment linking /2025/12/11/ai-can-write-your-code-it-cant-do-your-job/
on “Engineers who dismiss AI”Submitted Strengths Are Your Weaknesses as a story · 346 points
HN discussionhttps://terriblesoftware.org/2026/10/02/the-brain-sandwich/
Comment linking /2026/10/02/the-brain-sandwich/
on “Ask HN: Techniques for productive AI use in the workspace”Submitted The hidden cost of AI coding as a story · 341 points
HN discussionRelevant https://terriblesoftware.org/2026/03/03/nobody-gets-promoted...
Comment linking /2026/03/03/nobody-gets-promoted-for-simplicity/
on “Why is Meta destroying its engineering organization?”Submitted Most Influential Papers in Computer Science History as a story · 335 points
HN discussionI agree with this guy: https://obie.medium.com/what-happens-when-the-coding-becomes... When you look at the AI as having a Jr. Developer at your disposal to do the mundane things you actually elevate yourself higher than you could individually (without the help) as you focus more on architecture and design and guide the LLM to make incremental improvements instead of decremental ones. That's my take at least. This o…
Comment linking /2025/12/11/ai-can-write-your-code-it-cant-do-your-job/
on “Tell HN: I am afraid AI will take my job at some point”Submitted All managers make mistakes; good managers acknowledge and repair as a story · 308 points
HN discussionSubmitted "ChatGPT said this" Is Lazy as a story · 130 points
HN discussionSubmitted AI Is Breaking This Thing We Call Trust as a story · 128 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Brain Sandwich as a story · 100 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why Engineers Hate Their Managers (and What to Do About It) as a story · 92 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why Your 'Harmonious' Team Is Failing as a story · 80 points
HN discussionSubmitted Engineers who dismiss AI as a story · 74 points
HN discussionSubmitted What Makes You Senior as a story · 62 points
HN discussionSubmitted AI Can Write Your Code. It Can't Do Your Job as a story · 9 points
HN discussionSubmitted What Makes You Senior as a story · 8 points
HN discussionSubmitted Manage for Success, Not Comfort as a story · 6 points
HN discussionSubmitted Using My Fucking Brain as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted AI Can Write Your Code. It Can't Do Your Job as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted AI Can Write Your Code. It Can't Do Your Job as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted Duplication Is Not the Enemy as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted "Good Taste" Is Just Experience as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted What Makes You Senior as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted What Makes You Senior as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Good Engineer/Bad Engineer as a story · 4 points
HN discussion
