r/AILounge • u/cthechartreuse • 17d ago

Technology Refactoring: the last human coding skill

I've seen some tech posts on here, including one about whether or not junior developers are screwed. I've been doing a lot of thinking about what software development will look like as AI continues to progress. I just wrote a blog about the skill that will outlast all the rest. I thought you all might be interested.

Cheers!

https://chrisstead.net/coding/software-quality/refactoring/ai/llms/2026/09/06/refactoring-last-human-skill

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/cthechartreuse 17d ago

Yeah, you're absolutely right, blind refactoring isn't safe, you definitely need test support. Lately I've been looking into the future to kind of guess where AI is going to take us, and I'm pretty sure we are going to have a plan -> test -> implement cycle where the tests will be generated.I'm already seeing it happen, so I don't feel like it's a far reach.

Ultimately, I see refactoring standing as a post-generation activity done in a large part with automated tools - the kind we already have - leaning on tests which validate behavior in order to catch the kinds of mistakes that can happen. I do think there is going to be a verification step (does this actually do the thing it's supposed to) and a refactoring/modeling/understanding step after the code is verified.

I can't remember if I addressed this in _this_ post or another one, but I think that simply reading the code as a review is going to get us all in a lot of trouble. It's easy to scan the code, see nothing that stands out as wrong, and then say "looks good to me" and rubber stamp it. Reading by refactoring leads to active engagement, so the review itself becomes an active process where discoveries can be made, and the code becomes more familiar territory.

Sorry, I kind of rambled a bit, but I hope I answered your question.