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Lauren Tan says clean code matters less now that agents write most code

1 article1 sourcesince Oct 11Last article 1h ago ·

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Lauren Tan (@poteto) says on X that maintainability and clean code matter less in 2026 because agents now write most code.

She argues that readability principles cost performance and were designed for human maintainers, and that new principles of agent-friendly architecture will emerge.

Tan defines Good Code as code that is correct, bug free, and fast and cheap to run. She says most software does not need to meet that standard to provide value. The post is a single opinion and reports no measured results.

Written by AI from the articles below · updated Oct 11, 3:26 PM ET

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Latest developmentOct 11, 2:54 PM ET
Lauren Tan argues clean code matters less now that agents write code

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Oct 11
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    Lauren Tan argues clean code matters less now that agents write code

    AILauren Tan (@poteto) says maintainability and clean code are no longer as important in 2026, because readability principles cost performance and were designed for human maintainers. She argues that agents now write most code and that new principles of agent-friendly architecture will emerge. She defines Good Code as correct, bug free, and fast and cost efficient to run, and says most software does not need to meet that standard to provide value.

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