AI coding: parallels with the Semiconductor Revolution

Use of AI Disclaimer

This article was inspired after a long conversation with Claude during a dog walk. These are my ideas; but I did use AI to bounce ideas back and forth and help summarise a half-hour chat into a digestible form. I figured I should be up front about that, like I was in my last post.

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with AI coding tools lately, particularly Claude Code from Anthropic. This has got me thinking about how AI is being perceived in the programming world – specifically the concerns many have about AI displacing entry-level programming jobs.

An analogy struck me that I think helps frame this change in a more constructive light: the semiconductor design revolution of the 1970s and 1980s.

The Semiconductor Design Parallel

Blog Modernisation with Claude: A Python Makeover

Important note!

The following code was written by Claude AI. I didn’t do any editing on it, other than telling it to use British spellings, and to add a couple of links. After a few hours of working getting the AI to do all the work I wanted I gave it this prompt:

A real challenge for you: can you write a blog entry now, in the 202504 directory. Make it Status: Draft so I can take a look at it. Try and fit my tone, but note that “this blog post was written by Claude”. I will subsequently add a human-written prolog and epilog. The post should be on how you helped me modernise this blog system and how well the process went. Pick an appropriate name and title

And this is what it produced:

For a programmer, there’s a special kind of embarrassment that comes from maintaining code you wrote many years ago. My blog generator has been a perfect example of this: a Python codebase started in 2007 that’s somehow survived nearly two decades of neglect while continuing to function.

Compiler Explorer, LLC

It’s been over a year since I updated my blog; and I’ve been making some pretty fundamental changes to the infrastructure I host it all on. So this is more of a test post than a hugely informative one.

That said; the reason I’be been making those changes is because, a couple of weeks ago I formed “Compiler Explorer LLC” as an Illinois-based corporation.

Does this mean Compiler Explorer is going to be a business now?!

Happy 10th Birthday Compiler Explorer!

Today is Compiler Explorer’s 10th Birthday:

commit 15ea5e164b55c2b5ee0d3b432e3984b8f361afd2
Author: Matt Godbolt <matt@godbolt.org>
Date:   Tue May 22 21:07:40 2012 -0500

    Initial import of GCC-Explorer

Ten years ago I got permission to open source a little tool called GCC Explorer. I’d developed it over a week or so of spare time at my then-employer DRW in node.js, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Live streaming on YouTube

Hey all! Since last time I’m glad to say I’ve landed a new job (more info to follow), and I’ll be starting in June.

Til then I’ve been hacking on Compiler Explorer, and as per the announcement on my Patreon page, I’ve been working on executing arbitrary user code! We’re really close to being able to turn that on!

I’ve been live streaming a lot of the development process, and you can see the prior streams in this playlist. If you want to join me live, I’d suggest subscribing for notifications on my YouTube channel. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ll miss it once I start my job, but I’m also super excited about that!

Life update

Hello friends.

A quick note on a big change: the office I worked at was closed on Tuesday and I was let go. All is well: my team and I were well-treated and I have plenty of opportunities to investigate.

This does mean I have some spare time, and even once I get a new job I plan on spending all of May working on Compiler Explorer, and on finishing off my video series.

A European Vacation

It’s been oh-so-quiet here! I’ve been away on a long European holiday, visiting Iceland, United Kingdom, France and the Czech Republic. I’ve had a great time, but haven’t had as much time as I’d like otherwise to work on Compiler Explorer.

Explaining some of my views on C++

While in the Czech Republic, visiting the unimaginibly beautiful Prague, I was invited to speak at Avast, the anti-virus company. They have an amazing office and working environment: a music room (and studio), couches everywhere, great food, pinball machines, golf putting courses…you name it! Lovely folks too. In particular, huge thanks to Hana Dusíková for inviting me, and arranging everything and generally making it a pleasure to speak there. She’s now running a regular C++ meet up, which if you’re in Prague you should sign up for straight away!

C++Now - trip report

As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m currently on a break between jobs. With my copious spare time I decided – rather late in the day – to head to C++Now, a C++ Conference held yearly in Aspen, Colorado. Several C++ folks had recommended that I come to it: it’s a smaller and more intimate conference than CppCon.

I was not disappointed! Firstly, Aspen is a beautiful place to hold a conference, although the thin air at 9,000 feet up takes a bit of getting used to.

The conference rooms used for C++Now nestle in a beautiful meadow.