Terry Tao · 2026-07-11 · notable
Terry Tao ships math apps built with coding agents — 24 applets ported, 2 new tools
Fields Medalist Terry Tao published a hands-on writeup of using LLM coding agents to port two dozen legacy Java math applets to JavaScript and build two new interactive tools — a Minkowski-space diagram editor and a Gilbreath conjecture visualizer.
Terry Tao writes up his own experience letting AI coding agents rebuild decades-old math applets — and finds one bug across 24 ports.
What is it?
Old and new apps, via modern coding agents is a July 11 blog post by Terry Tao, one of the world's most cited mathematicians. Tao describes porting roughly two dozen legacy Java applets from his math site to JavaScript with an AI coding agent, and using the same workflow to build two new interactive tools he had previously abandoned.
How does it work?
Tao treats the math applets as low-risk 'secondary visualizations,' so he lets the agent drive with light supervision — a style he calls vibe coding. He reports finding only one minor bug across the 24 ports, and says the agent flagged two bugs in his original Java code that he had not noticed. The post links each new applet, including a Minkowski-space diagram editor and a Gilbreath conjecture visualizer.
Why does it matter?
Tao is a Fields Medalist and one of the most-read research mathematicians online, so his public verdict on coding agents lands with an audience that rarely reads AI blogs. The essay gives researchers a concrete pattern — pick a low-risk visualization task, use an agent, ship — and it hit the Hacker News front page shortly after publication.
Who is it for?
Researchers, educators, and hobbyists weighing whether coding agents can revive their own old side projects.
Try it
Read the post: https://terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/07/11/old-and-new-apps-via-modern-coding-agents/