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simonw parent
One trend I've been finding interesting over the past year is that a lot of engineers I know who moved into engineering management are writing code again - because LLMs mean they can get something productive done in a couple of hours where previously it would have taken them a full day.

Managers usually can't carve out a full day - but a couple of hours is manageable.

See also this quote from Gergely Orosz:

  Despite being rusty with coding (I don't code every day
  these days): since starting to use Windsurf / Cursor with
  the recent increasingly capable models: I am SO back to
  being as fast in coding as when I was coding every day
  "in the zone" [...]

  When you are driving with a firm grip on the steering
  wheel - because you know exactly where you are going, and
  when to steer hard or gently - it is just SUCH a big
  boost.

  I have a bunch of side projects and APIs that I operate -
  but usually don't like to touch it because it's (my)
  legacy code.

  Not any more.

  I'm making large changes, quickly. These tools really
  feel like a massive multiplier for experienced devs -
  those of us who have it in our head exactly what we want
  to do and now the LLM tooling can move nearly as fast as
  my thoughts!
From https://x.com/GergelyOrosz/status/1914863335457034422
smithclay
This is also true of (technical) product managers from an engineering background.

It's been amazing to spin up quick React prototypes during a lunch break of concepts and ideas for quick feedback and reactions.

skydhash
> a lot of engineers I know who moved into engineering management are writing code again

They should be managing instead. Not to say that they can't code their own tools, but the statement sounds like a construction supervisor nailing studs or welding steel bars. Can work for a small team, but that's not your primary job.

simonw OP
Hard disagree.

I've been an engineering manager and it's a lot easier to make useful decisions that your team find credible if you can keep your toes in the water just a little bit.

My golden rule is to stay out of the critical path of shipping a user-facing feature: if a product misses a deadline because the engineering manager slipped on their coding commitments, that's bad.

The trick is to use your minimal coding time for things that are outside of that critical path: internal tools, prototypes, helping review code to get people unstuck, that kind of thing.

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