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malfistyesterday at 5:50 PM4 repliesview on HN

Code is cheap is the same as saying "Buying on credit is easy". Code is a liability, not an asset.


Replies

beagle3today at 6:07 AM

Code you can’t just throw away is a liability because you have to keep supporting it / servicing it. Claude Code and friends also change that part of the cost equation:

You might not get gcc/llvm level optimization from a newly built compiler - but if you had a home-built one, which took $15,000/month engineer to support (for years!) you can now get a new one for $20,000 every 3 months, for a 50% cost saving, each time changing your requirements (which you couldn’t do before).

Code used to be a liability, like a car or an apartment for the average person. Now it’s a liability, like a car or apartment for Bill Gates.

mehagaryesterday at 6:07 PM

I would normally agree, but I think the "code is a liability" quote assumes that humans are reading and modifying the code. If AI tools are also reading and modifying their own code, is that still true?

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leptonstoday at 5:22 AM

>Code is a liability, not an asset

Then "AI" code is even more of a liability.

danesparzayesterday at 6:05 PM

I think you mean to say, "code you don't understand is a liability, not an asset"

But please correct me if I'm wrong.

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