Spec-Driven Development: Everything Old Is New Again
Spec-driven development is gaining renewed attention in software engineering as a method for generating code from specifications. This approach emphasizes the importance of creating clear and precise specifications, as vague specs can lead to unreliable code. The article discusses the historical context of spec-driven tools and warns against the pitfalls of losing clarity in specifications, especially with the rise of AI in development processes.
- ▪Spec-driven development focuses on writing specifications that define what must be true, rather than just documenting existing code.
- ▪Historical tools like IDLs, WSDL, and Protocol Buffers have successfully utilized spec-driven approaches to generate code.
- ▪The article warns that as AI becomes involved in maintaining specifications, there is a risk of losing clarity and understanding of the system's intended functionality.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
← All articlesSpec-Driven Development: Everything Old Is New AgainJan BrauerApr 28, 2026 · 11 min readSoftware engineering as we know it is being replaced. Not by AI. By specs.“Given… When… Then… | claude” is a workflow, but it’s also a forcing function: you have to actually mean what you write.The thing nobody talks aboutGetting specs right is hard. Harder than code.Code is honest - it runs or it doesn’t. A vague spec just produces confident-sounding garbage, and now the garbage compiles.What’s actually hard about it:knowing the why before the howwriting down the failure cases, not just the happy pathtreating it as a live document, not a kickoff artifact you forget about a week laterAnd the thing people keep confusing: a spec is not documentation.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at superluminar GmbH.
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