Reading Code, New HTTP Methods, and the State of AI Coding

The tweet that kicked off the firestorm was deceptively simple: "How much better do the models have to get before you stop reading the code?" The responses came from all corners of the industry—framework creators, CTOs, security engineers, and influencers—and they landed everywhere from "I barely even look at the folder structure now" to "A lot of us still routinely read assembly code." The episode's hosts, Scott and CJ, waded into the debate with a clear throughline: reading code is not a binary yes-or-no question, and the most honest answer is "it depends."

The Reading Code Debate

The central question—whether developers should still read code produced by AI—sparked responses from across the industry. David Capiano and Justin Schroeder argued that reading code is "meaningless now" and that verification is what matters. Chang Lao admitted he barely looks at folder structure anymore. But Glauber from Terso pushed back hard: "A lot of us still routinely read assembly code." The hosts noted that framework and library creators like Rich Harris (Svelte) still need to read code because they're working on a frontier where the thing they're making doesn't exist yet.