Oxide and Friends Engineering Rigor in the LLM Age
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Jan 15, 2026 Rain Paharia, a software engineer known for his Rust libraries, and David Crespo, an experienced web developer and LLM enthusiast, join the discussion on the evolving landscape of software engineering. They tackle how LLMs can enhance engineering rigor rather than diminish the role of coders. Topics include leveraging LLMs for efficient API testing, automating code reviews, and uncovering real bugs in unfamiliar codebases. The duo emphasizes the importance of strong type systems and documentation practices to maintain code quality in this tech-driven era.
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LLMs Enable A Middle Path
- LLMs create a large middle ground between vibe-coding and outright rejection, enabling rigorous engineering rather than replacing engineers.
- Bryan found LLMs can increase engineering rigor by asking targeted questions and reading code plus comments in big codebases.
Kernel Work With Claude Cut Time
- Bryan used Claude Code on an illumos kernel task and cut implementation time roughly in half for a straightforward lock refactor.
- It read comments and code across a large codebase, suggested sensible edits, and required only modest fixes afterward.
Pattern Amplification In Practice
- Rain handwrote a complex map implementation and had an LLM replicate APIs across four map types and generate thousands of doctests in under a day.
- The LLM amplified her pattern, freeing weeks of tedious work while preserving reviewability.