How Top Programmers Use LLMs to Supercharge Productivity

Veteran programmer antirez shares his 18-month experience using large language models like Gemini 2.5 PRO and Claude Opus for coding. He argues that current LLMs are best used as powerful assistants, not as standalone project completers. By clearly describing problems and iterating effectively, LLMs can help eliminate bugs, explore ideas faster, engage in pair-design, and even learn technologies outside one's expertise. However, antirez stresses the importance of providing ample context, choosing the right model, and maintaining control over the code, avoiding reliance on automated agents. Only then can code quality be assured and efficiency maximized.