Code is clay now

Code is now like clay

The writer says that before November 2025, coders worked like stonemasons. Changing code was slow and hard, so big changes meant tearing things down and planning carefully. Now AI coding agents make changes almost free, so code can be reshaped quickly, like clay.

Shaping code in stages

With clay-like code, you can try a rough version, see how it feels, and throw it away if it does not work. Then you refine it step by step, from the big shape to the small details. A solo developer can sketch a whole product core in a day. A team can test a new direction for a struggling feature in a few days.

Judgment still matters

Changing code is now cheap, but deciding whether a change is right is not. The writer warns that if people keep adding pieces without refining them and checking how they fit, the project can fall apart. Good taste, context, rules, and solid design are still needed.

Two working styles

• Artisan: a person stays in the loop and checks each change, often in about thirty minutes.
• The writer built a feature called calc blocks in a Markdown editor in roughly half a soda's worth of time.
• Factory: a person steps out of the loop and uses a system of specs, generators, and verifiers.
• Vibe coding: judging only what users see, without checking the code.
• Engineering: judging the code's shape too, not just the surface.

What to watch

• How people decide how much human judgment to keep in the loop.
• Whether factory-style pipelines with tests, evals, and review agents can produce reliable code.
• Whether fast, loose coding leads to messy products that are hard to maintain.