Thread

AI coding has made CI a bottleneck, so we reworked ours to keep up

317 points · 408 comments · julian_digital

xracy · 1790021108 · focus · HN ↗
Maybe I'm alone in this, but as someone who is in tech, I don't know what CI is, and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect it to have an expansion within the article the first time you use it...
AI is in the cultural zeitgeist, but you gotta expand most other things at least once.
1. madrox · 1790021812 · focus · HN ↗
  I recommend making a habit of googling or asking AI about terms you run into. As someone who is in tech, you will hear tech jargon your whole career that will not be explained if it's considered standard terminology for the audience being spoken to. It is better to learn to educate yourself than expect others to go out of their way.
  1. xracy · 1790030416 · focus · HN ↗
    It's wild to me that people think asking for
    "Continuous Integration (CI)"
    in the first line of a paragraph of a long article is "going out of your way". It used to be the standard expectation for using shorthand.
    madrox · 1790038332 · focus · HN ↗
    It used to be a standard expectation, but that was before google or AI could have answered your question in less time and typing that your complaint on HN required. Especially when the author is writing a blog post for an audience that knows what CI is.
    Do you want to be right, or do you want to learn?
    xracy · 1790231374 · focus · HN ↗
    It's an authorial expectation that saves everyone from having to search every acronym you use.
    Can I solve it by searching? Yes. Is it faster for the author to type it out once or for the reading public to have to search it up? I don't think that time matches up even if the # of people is "me", but it certainly isn't less time than it takes 2 people to search.
    I feel like I am asking for the bare minimum and everyone on this sight thinks I am asking for the moon.
    This is such entry-level communication/writing skills I am surprised the ai doesn't do it for you...
    Obligatory <a href="https://xkcd.com/169/" rel="nofollow">https://xkcd.com/169/
    madrox · 1790899793 · focus · HN ↗
    It isn't that I think you're asking for the moon. I'm trying to impart wisdom from a long career that I think may be useful to you. Unlike the XKCD, neither the blog author nor myself are acting smug that you don't understand CI.
    In general, it is not a good strategy to expect people to make things easy for you. "LMGTFY" has a long history. Rather than get so bothered that you make an HN post and double down in comments, better to develop the muscle memory to look it up and move on. This is about more than just acronyms but all problems life throws your way, which is why I ask: do you want to feel wronged by this blog post not explaining CI, or do you want to learn and move on? No one else in life is on the hook to educate you. If you think this blog post is an offender, try reading an academic journal.
    I'm merely trying to impart advice I wish I heard in my 20s, so take it how you will. I wish you luck in your career.

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