To be a better programmer, write little proofs in your head (the-nerve-blog.ghost.io)

Article summary

The article discusses the importance of writing little proofs in one's head while coding to ensure the code works as intended. It highlights the value of concepts like monotonicity, pre- and post-conditions, invariants, and isolation in writing correct code. The author also touches on the idea of induction and how it can be applied to recursive functions and data structures. By using these techniques, programmers can write more accurate and efficient code.

Main themes

• Code Correctness
• Formal Methods
• Proofs and Invariants
• Binary Search
• Interview Questions
• Large Language Models

What commenters say

• Implementing binary search is a useful interview question to assess a candidate's coding skills.
• Binary search is a deceptively simple algorithm that many programmers struggle to implement correctly.
• The use of exclusive upper bounds in binary search can help avoid common pitfalls and make the code more robust.
• Proofs and formal methods can be useful tools for ensuring the correctness of code, but may not be necessary for all programming tasks.
• The quality of training data is a significant factor in the ability of large language models to generate correct code.
• Competitive programming can be an effective way to learn techniques for writing correct code, but may not be directly applicable to all real-world programming tasks.
• The use of proof assistants and other formal methods can be a more reliable way to ensure the correctness of code than relying on large language models.
• Writing idiomatic code that follows principles of simplicity, clarity, and generality can often be a more effective way to ensure correctness than using formal methods or proofs.