Like most AI tools, great for beginners, time-savers for intermediate users, and frequently a waste of time in domains where you're an expert.
I've used Cursor for shipping better frontend slop, and it's great. I skip a lot of trial and error, but not all of it.
I agree that it's amazing as a learning tool. I think the "time to ramp" on a new technology or programming language has probably been cut in half or more.
,> and frequently a waste of time in domains where you're an expert.
I'm a domain expert and I disagree.
There's many scenarios where using LLMs pays off.
E.g. a long file or very long function are just that, and an LLM is faster at understanding it whole not being limited in how many things you can track in your mind at once (between 4 and 6). It's still gonna be faster at refactoring it and testing it than you will.
I like it for general refactoring and day to day small tasks, but anything that's relatively domain-specific, I just can't seem to get anything that's worth using.