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Comment Re:Ditto: have to throw away 1/2 of what Claude do (Score 1) 128

I've given up trusting it to write unit tests.

Claude is exceptionally good at inferring test scenarios, but in terms of implementation IMHO it writes tests that are far too much low level and focused on implementation details.

In my existing projects I almost always have my own test patterns and utilities that effectively provides a mini-framework at the abstraction level I consider appropriate. I can tell Claude to use these as basis for new tests and it helps immensely in getting the kind of test implementations I want.

Note though that the reason most of my projects got these mini-test-frameworks was originally to avoid other human developers implementing tests using the same anti-patterns, so it's not a new problem nor an AI coding agent specific one IMHO.

Comment Re:Questions (Score 4, Interesting) 90

I'm confused about how this works. If I don't give a careful sequence of prompts to lead AI then it can go off the rails. For example, it forgets parts of the code after awhile and has to be reminded to reuse a function instead of rewriting it. What is better about the watcher agent that it will keep the AI on track? Also, when will there be a watcher agent watcher? That's what I really want

A modern coding agent can have huge context windows. I use Claude Code with Opus and 1M tokens window at work and that's plenty for "normal" coding activities. The real limiting factor are the API token costs.

As of carefully hand-holding the AI, it's often not necessary anymore since a modern coding agent can infer if there is ambiguity and proactively ask the user for further information and make use of structured development methodologies, e.g. TDD with small incremental changes.

Last week I didn't prompt anything except "implement issue xxx" and Claude Code connected to our JIRA, read the issue in question, asked clarifying question, created a plan and submitted it to me for review. I iterated on the plan a couple times as there were parts I didn't like, then let Claude proceed with the implementation. The result was correct except for a minor GUI issue and a performance optimization.

Comment Re: There is very little need (Score 4, Interesting) 96

Ah, so does that work in all EU-countries? Or just in yours?

Instant SEPA support for retail payments is still fragmentary and relies on private financial institutions.

The idea with the Digital Euro is that it would effectively have "legal tender" status. The EU would definitely push for widespread adoption.

Comment Re:There is very little need (Score 4, Insightful) 96

Bank-transfers are fast, cheap, efficient in the Euro-zone. A "Digital Euro" has no real uses. My take is this is some politicians desiring to appear "modern".

The idea is not to replace or compete with SEPA: it's to try to replicate some nice aspects of cash in a more and more cash-less society especially for day-to-day transactions.

A cash-less payment currently needs to involve a private financial institution somewhere in the transaction. This is because the central bank only issues cash. This "digital euro" supposedly will allow for cash-less transaction only involving government institutions instead of private ones.

Of course the question is whether you trust more a government institution than a private one and whether this will open the door to an eventual phasing-out of cash down the road...

Comment Re:Dystopian framing (Score 5, Insightful) 79

Its a pretty dystopian framing that its enabled him to work instead of being able to speak to his family and friends and do more with their time. Work isn't the purpose of life but its a marker of the times that this is how this is framed.

The summary also mentions him being able to talk with his daughter. Furthermore, being productive is a very important aspect for many people and while it might not be their whole purpose in life, it's still typically very important for their self-realization.

Also a professional setting is usually focused at delivering results and that the technology is successful in that setting is indicative of how advanced it has become.

Comment Re:Far Right? (Score 1) 83

Why is this labeled as a "far-right" proposal? According to the summary, the SVP has the most seats in Parliament.

The SVP is the most "right-wing" party among the major parties in Switzerland. Although firmly "right-wing" I don't think it should be considered "far-right" though.

Note that Switzerland has a number of "major" parties that cover the political spectrum. Even as the largest, the SVP has "only" 30% of the seats. The second largest party has 20% and it's the left-wing SDP. Neither the left parties nor the right parties have absolute majority. The system functions by finding consensus.

Comment Re: comms (Score 1) 174

Or I guess what I mean to say is, none of these skills seem very difficult to obtain. So what's the problem?

IMHO the problem is that many professional are sleeping on AI. They don't take the time to try it and become proficient with it. Part of it is likely due to inertia, part of it due to prejudice or bad experience with earlier iterations.

Comment Re:comms (Score 1, Informative) 174

I still don't really understand what AI skills are. Communication? They want employees who can ask things? What?

I used Gemini. My prompt was: "create a bullet list in html syntax of skills that might be useful or required to use an AI in a professional setting". This is the result:

  • Prompt Engineering: Crafting precise, context-rich, and structured prompts to elicit high-quality, accurate responses from generative AI models.
  • Critical Thinking & Fact-Checking: Verifying AI-generated outputs for biases, logical fallacies, or "hallucinations" before implementing them in business decisions.
  • Data Literacy: Understanding how data is collected, structured, and utilized by AI systems, as well as recognizing data privacy and security boundaries.
  • AI Tool Familiarity: Navigating and mastering domain-specific AI platforms (e.g., large language models, AI image generators, automated data analysis tools, and coding assistants).
  • Ethical Awareness & Compliance: Understanding the ethical implications of AI use, including copyright laws, intellectual property rights, and company compliance policies.
  • Workflow Automation: Integrating AI tools into existing workflows using APIs, low-code/no-code platforms, or automation software (like Zapier or Make) to increase efficiency.
  • Iterative Problem Solving: Approaching AI tasks with an experimental mindset—refining, testing, and tweaking inputs continuously to achieve the desired outcome.

As a software engineer working daily with coding agents and AI workflows, I can confirm the list is pretty accurate although of course not exhaustive. IMHO the most important skill is being aware of what an AI can accomplish, which nowadays is a lot.

Comment Re:concerns about personal data on work devices (Score 1) 66

This. I'm never understood why people do "personal" stuff on their work devices. Your phone can pretty much do anything that needs being done these days and you don't have to connect to the corporate network with it.

Because their situation might be different. I do personal stuff on my work devices from time to time but my employer explicitly allows minor personal use and in my jurisdiction they are actually prohibited by law from performing behavioural monitoring unless they have a very specific reason.

Comment Re:Wrong side of history (Score 1) 166

Not believable. The transmission is initiated by the user who downloads the code. That's literally how it works. In your argument, you're removing agency from users, while also claiming that the author forced a user to ask its LLM or web browser to pull code and run it without inspecting it first. Occam's Razor disagrees.

It doesn't matter who initiates the download. By your rationale putting compromised packages in package repositories would never be a crime since "the user initiates the transmission", which is obviously not how the courts see it.

The author decided to shut up and consult a lawyer for a reason.

Comment Re:Wrong side of history (Score 1) 166

Not at all. How did you find such an obscure argument? It's broken, I"m afraid: Firstly, the author has no idea who is downloading files. That would be a problem for Github. Maybe they are liable for hosting malicious content? I doubt it, due to DMCA exceptions. Secondly, there's no causing of transmissions. The user copies some files. That's transmission number one. The user executes some code without reading it first. That's not a transmission. The user next causes an execution of a command. That's a problem for the user.

The author made the files available on distribution channels. GitHub Releases very likely qualify as distribution channel. Maven Central 100% qualifies as distribution channel. That is most likely more than enough to be considered "knowingly causes the transmission" as interpreted by the courts.

Comment Re: Wrong side of history (Score 1) 166

You are clearly not a lawyer. Causes to be transmitted is not equivalent to making available for free.

Artifacts containing the code in questions were made available. That is very likely to qualify as "knowingly causes the transmission" even only as GitHub Release and it 100% qualifies as deployment on Maven Central.

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