\cleardoublepage \part{The Craft of Developing} \setbookpart{The Craft of Developing}

Part II: The Craft of Developing

Developing is craft before it is AI. Part II treats each function in turn: how a developer frames a problem, designs, builds, proves that the software is right and stewards it in production and over the years. Each chapter first describes the practice without AI, then what AI adds, then what can go wrong.

Chapter 8 stages a debate on whether agents should write and merge the code.

Chapters in this part:

  • Chapter 5, Frame, treats problems, requirements and intent without AI first (D1 Frame).
  • Chapter 6, Design, treats architecture, decisions and constraints with AI (D2 Design).
  • Chapter 7, Build, treats writing code and the tools of the craft, and what controlled studies found (D3 Build).
  • Chapter 8, Build with Agents, treats delegated coding, mandates and sandboxes, and stages a debate (D3 Build, D4 Prove).
  • Chapter 9, Prove, treats review, tests and verification and the independent test oracle (D4 Prove).
  • Chapter 10, Prove Security, treats secure code, the supply chain and the toolchain as attack surface (D4 Prove, D5 Steward).
  • Chapter 11, Steward the Release, treats CI/CD, change and operating what you build (D5 Steward).
  • Chapter 12, Steward the Code, treats maintenance, legacy modernisation, technical debt and documentation (D5 Steward, D2 Design).

Functions in this part. Part II concerns D1 Frame in Chapter 5, D2 Design in Chapter 6, D3 Build in Chapters 7 and 8, D4 Prove in Chapters 8 to 10 and D5 Steward in Chapters 10 to 12.

The thread from the series. The pipeline and testing practice are those of Architecture as Code; secure delivery of AI systems is that of AI Platform and Security, Chapter 19; the release meets change in AI Operations, Chapter 17.

What you will learn in this part:

  • How a problem becomes an executable specification
  • What controlled studies found about coding tools
  • How a coding agent is given a mandate
  • How correctness is shown by independent checks
  • How code is owned over years

Part III turns to the roles around the code.