A sufficiently detailed spec is code

4 hours ago

Agentic coding advocates claim to generate code purely from specification documents, but the author argues this is misleading.
Two main misconceptions are identified: specification documents being simpler than code, and specification work being more thoughtful than coding.
The Symphony project by OpenAI is critiqued as an example where the 'specification' is more like pseudocode or outright code, not a true specification.
The author demonstrates that making a specification precise enough to generate code turns it into something resembling code, defeating the purpose.
Attempting to generate code from the Symphony specification resulted in flaky, non-functional output, highlighting the unreliability of this approach.
The YAML specification is cited as another example where detailed specifications still lead to non-conforming implementations.
The push to devalue labor in tech leads to specification documents that are sloppy and lack coherence, as seen in Symphony's 'specification'.
Specifications are not time-saving devices; optimizing for delivery speed over clarity results in poor outcomes.
The principle of 'garbage in, garbage out' applies: unclear or poorly detailed specifications cannot reliably produce good code.

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