Here’s how I use LLMs to help me write code
March 14, 2025
Online discussions about using Large Language Models to help write code inevitably produce comments from developers who’s experiences have been disappointing. They often ask what they’re doing wrong—how come some people are reporting such great results when their own experiments have proved lacking?Using LLMs to write code is difficult and unintuitive. It takes significant effort to figure out the sharp and soft edges of using them in this way, and there’s precious little guidance to help people figure out how best to apply them.
If someone tells you that coding with LLMs is easy they are (probably unintentionally) misleading you. They may well have stumbled on to patterns that work, but those patterns do not come naturally to everyone.I’ve been getting great results out of LLMs for code for over two years now. Here’s my attempt at transferring some of that experience and intution to you.
Few people have been working longer withLLMs as coding tools, more thoughtfully, nor more generously with the lessons they’ve learned than Simon Willison.
Whether you’re only just starting out, or have ben at it a while, here are many great thoughts here.
