> I haven't seen a proper document (as in "documentation") for years.
I am sure that is true for many types of code. But also, for many projects, you can train up a reasonably productive coder in 3-6 months of bootcamping. In those cases, you probably don't need much more than auto-generated documentation. But also, in those cases, I'm not sure what a GPT-like model is doing other than creating the facade of written documentation around a product and process that doesn't really need anything other than the most superficial of manually written documentation.
On the other hand, there are many cases where actual written documentation is quite necessary.
I used to work on extremely high-trust code bases, and now I mostly work on mid and late stage large "Big R, Big D" projects.
In both cases, written documentation is extremely important for communicating the whats and whys of implemented code. Auto-generating API documentation would be pretty useless without a very literal programming style of development (think tens or hundreds of pages of math-heavy documentation for every KLoC or so, and in rare cases an order of magnitude more.) And even then would be awkward in many cases; eg, in cases where there's close interfaces between the software and product-specific custom hardware (either chips or sensors or actuated mechanical components). Or especially mathematics-heavy portions of programs where you really need to read a couple dissertations before you can start reasoning about the implementation details of the methods.
Additionally, we do/did a lot of writing for non-technical/differently-technical audiences. E.g., patent attorneys (who need thorough descriptions for translation into effective patentese), colleagues who interfaced directly with safety regulators, colleagues who interfaced with lawmakers, internal documents that might one day be seen by lawmakers or counsel, communication with external technical stakeholders when working on either greenfield or evolving standards, etc.
A strong foundation in basic writing skills is very important when you need to communicate the same basic facts to a variety of technical audiences who all have different concerns, incentive structures, and backgrounds.
> My MBA essays didn't do this either, so I'm not sure what the problem is
I am sure that is true for many types of code. But also, for many projects, you can train up a reasonably productive coder in 3-6 months of bootcamping. In those cases, you probably don't need much more than auto-generated documentation. But also, in those cases, I'm not sure what a GPT-like model is doing other than creating the facade of written documentation around a product and process that doesn't really need anything other than the most superficial of manually written documentation.
On the other hand, there are many cases where actual written documentation is quite necessary.
I used to work on extremely high-trust code bases, and now I mostly work on mid and late stage large "Big R, Big D" projects.
In both cases, written documentation is extremely important for communicating the whats and whys of implemented code. Auto-generating API documentation would be pretty useless without a very literal programming style of development (think tens or hundreds of pages of math-heavy documentation for every KLoC or so, and in rare cases an order of magnitude more.) And even then would be awkward in many cases; eg, in cases where there's close interfaces between the software and product-specific custom hardware (either chips or sensors or actuated mechanical components). Or especially mathematics-heavy portions of programs where you really need to read a couple dissertations before you can start reasoning about the implementation details of the methods.
Additionally, we do/did a lot of writing for non-technical/differently-technical audiences. E.g., patent attorneys (who need thorough descriptions for translation into effective patentese), colleagues who interfaced directly with safety regulators, colleagues who interfaced with lawmakers, internal documents that might one day be seen by lawmakers or counsel, communication with external technical stakeholders when working on either greenfield or evolving standards, etc.
A strong foundation in basic writing skills is very important when you need to communicate the same basic facts to a variety of technical audiences who all have different concerns, incentive structures, and backgrounds.
> My MBA essays didn't do this either, so I'm not sure what the problem is
I'm stunned, I tell you! Stunned! /s ;-)