1y ago

we are safe

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On a more serious note, ChatGPT, ironically, does suck at webdev frontend. The one task that pretty much everyone agrees could be done by a monkey (given enough time) is the one it doesn't understand at all.
- The one task that pretty much everyone agrees could be done by a monkey
  A phrase commonly uttered about web dev by mediocre programmers who spend 99% of the time writing the same copy-paste spring boot mid-tier code
  
  most of the websites are bloated and shit. Webdev is shit upon because they write code that can't work 4 months without needing a rewrite
  
  A good chunk of that has to do with trackers and ads. Things forced on webdevs by management.
  Not that webdevs couldn't improve anything otherwise; there are certainly optimizations to be had. But pop open the dev network panel on your browser, clear cache, and refresh the page. A lot of the holdup and dancing elements you'll see are from third party trackers and ads.
  
  I agree, and in addition to way too many trackers and advertisements clogging up the page, this is also due to the time, effort, and knowledge not being provided to write performant and compliant code, which should be important given the infinite possibilities of client machines. This can be worsened by only having full stack developers who aren't knowledgeable in web dev (especially CSS) or by sacrificing performance for trendy javascript-bloated design features
  
  You do of course realize that you just said that the problem with the modern web is that webdev can be and far too often is done by monkeys?
  I agree that there is a vast difference, even from an end user's perspective, between a good web developer and a bad one, but the fact remains that the bar for calling oneself a web dev is appallingly low and ChatGPT nevertheless fails to clear it
  
  I suppose you could see it like that, but I'm saying it can't be done by "monkeys", and the pervasive notion that it can has led to broken websites across the Internet
  
  I think I see what you mean. Many a very competent backend dev (and many more a kid in their bedroom with zero programming experience) has thought to themselves "how hard can webdev possibly be?" and blindly stumbled through making a website that looks fine on their machine without bothering to understand what the various CSS units do and turning it into an utter monstrosity if you even slightly change the size of the browser window, and the web suffers for it.
  As a primarily backend dev myself who's tried my hand at web once or twice, I still think that web developers are by far the most pampered in the industry when it comes to development tools (I can change CSS parameters with sliders right in my browser, see the page update in real time, and when I'm done I can just export the modified .css file to disk and upload it directly to my server with zero touchup to make my changes live? Are you KIDDING ME?) but I also think it's important to treat the practice with the respect it deserves. By that I mean taking the time to learn the languages, read through MDN's excellent documentation, and take the time to fully understand what each CSS parameter actually does instead of trial-and-erroring your way into something that only works for you. The same thing you'd do if you were learning any new programming language. Once you do that, apart from a few hiccups due to browser inconsistencies (any time Safari would like to stop eating glue I'd appreciate it) and having to come up with something that looks good in portrait, and get past a metric f**k ton of googling and memorizing the minute differences between dozens of very similar parameters, it's some of the most fun I've had as a programmer. I love being able to just go "I want a bunch of circles at the top of my page that bounce up and down in sequence." "Sure, give me two minutes." I'd stress about that for days in any other environment. Why didn't anyone tell me it could BE like this?
  
  Right, the pretty little button needs more shadows
  
  I am astonished at your ignorance and your arrogance
  
  I still have nightmares dealing with a11y requirements
  
  Same but it's very important
- I don't think it's very useful at generating good code or answering anything about most libraries, but I've found it to be helpful answering specific JS/TS questions.
  The MDN version is also pretty great too. I've never done a Firefox extension before and MDN Plus was surprisingly helpful at explaining the limitations on mobile. Only downside is it's limited to 5 free prompts/day.
  
  Chat gpt is also great if you have problems with Linux. It is my nr 1 trouble shooting tool.
- GPT 4 Turbo is actually much better than GPT 3.5 and 4 for coding. It has a way better understanding of design now.

151 comments