Slop is code you can't work with
The term 'slop' is increasingly used to describe codebases that are difficult to work with, often due to their complexity and unpredictability. This concept can apply to both AI-generated and human-written code, with varying definitions among developers. The article discusses the challenges of managing expectations and the frustrations that arise when dealing with such code, particularly in the context of using AI tools for coding.
- ▪The term 'slop' originally referred to low-quality content but now applies to challenging codebases.
- ▪Developers often face unexpected difficulties when working with slop, leading to increased time and effort for bug fixes and feature additions.
- ▪The concept of slop is subjective, as it varies based on individual experiences and expectations when coding.
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People use the term 'slop' more and more. Originally, this was mainly for content like blog articles, but now it's often used for codebases too. Like 'vibe coding', everyone has a slightly different definition of what it means. Is all AI-generated code slop? Can human-written code be slop? Is it slop if it works? I think it's fine for everyone to have their own definition of slop. After all, one man's slop is another man's $1M ARR business as the famous saying goes. But shared definitions are also useful, so if I call something slop I probably mean something like A (usually) LLM-generated codebase that no person or LLM understands well enough to work with effectively. Adding features takes more time and more tokens than you would expect.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Co.
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