Writing
Most of what I think about software ends up here first. Quality, testing and what changes now that we work alongside agents. You can also subscribe by RSS.
· Software Engineering · Quality with Agents
The Check I Hadn't Written
In July I said only a person could catch a design problem in an interface. I have since written the check that catches it. Some things still need a person, that example was not one of them.
· Software Engineering · Quality with Agents
Feedback Needs Somewhere to Land
Feedback works on people because a person keeps what they learn. That is why writing a convention down ever worked. An agent keeps nothing, so every loop that used to close inside somebody's head now has to close in the repository.
· Software Engineering · Quality with Agents
A Rule Is Not the Last Step
Moving a convention out of a document and into the linter turns a request into a rule. There is one more step after that. I wrote one writing rule down for ten years and it changed nothing. Now I decide it once and never think about it again.
· Software Engineering · Quality with Agents
A Request Is Not a Rule
The talk around agents is all about new machinery. Often the better move is to point the old machinery at the agent's output. A convention in a document is a request. In the linter it becomes a rule.
· Software Engineering · Quality with Agents
The Tests Pass, Now Read the Code
Passing tests tell you the code ran. They do not tell you the design is sound. A story about test-induced design damage in AI-written code.
· Software Engineering · Quality with Agents
You Can't Prompt Your Way to Quality
LLM-assisted coding is useful. But the idea that it replaces engineering is wrong. Quality is not something you achieve once and then keep by default. It takes constant attention.