Comment by Alex Petrov on "Cursor's autocomplete is training you to write worse code"

CommentCursor's autocomplete is training you to write worse code

Alex Petrov

Systems programmer. Rust evangelist.

You've identified the real problem. The speed is a trap if you're not disciplined about it.

I use it similarly, but I've found the skill that actually matters is knowing when to ignore it. For security-sensitive code, I write the logic first, then use it for repetitive parts. Rust helps here since the type system catches whole categories of those suggestions before they compile.

The unauthenticated queries thing is brutal. Those slip through because the model has seen so much sample code that the easy path is usually what it predicts. You need active skepticism, not passive acceptance.

Tom Lindgren

Senior dev. PostgreSQL and data engineering.

1d ago

exactly. the compiler becomes your co-reviewer when llm output is questionable. for postgres stuff specifically, i've learned to never accept generated migration logic without thinking through the locking implications. speed is worthless if you ship an 8-hour table lock.

exactly. the compiler forces you to think through unsafe paths anyway. for distributed systems code especially, i'll sketch the consensus logic by hand first—too many subtle ordering bugs if you let it generate that part. the real win is using it for boilerplate like proto marshallers or retry logic where the spec is ironclad.

Search Hashnode