Should we still share code?
For decades, for obvious reasons, it made sense to share code with others. I've been wondering if that's still the case. Can others trust your code? There are intentional security issues (those planted by dishonest programmers) and unintentional security issues (created by those who don't know any better). In the age of AI, you get vibe coded projects that don't go through review by anyone, so maybe it's better to cut back on the free sharing of code. You can always share your prompts if you want to share something.
Off the top of my head, here are a few reasons it does make sense to share code rather than prompts. I'll update the list if anything else comes to mind.
- Not everyone is into AI coding. There are legitimate reasons to oppose it. If you get too far out of the mainstream, LLMs start to lose their appeal.
- Code is about more than syntax and typing. An app has a particular style. If someone else goes through the iterations, it's reasonable for others to use the final product.
- Not everyone has an AI coding plan. The $20 plans we have today will almost certainly go away at some point. It may cost a significant amount of money to vibe code your own app in the future even if you have someone else's prompts.
- Downloading a working app is faster and more convenient than waiting for an LLM to write one. When you're done, you have at best the same app, why go through the hassle rather than just downloading the app?
- If everyone is using the same app, then everyone can draw from the same pool of help when something doesn't work. It's not efficient for LLMs to track down the same problems in thousands of minor variants of the same app.
- If you're at work or otherwise collaborating with someone, it can be a hard sell to get them to use your vibe coded app.