Giorgio Sironi
@giorgiosironi.bsky.social
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
This blog post ended up being a lot longer than I'd planned.
A response to all the folks I see talking about "precise" specifications in their LLM-based coding, as well as the folks who mistake LLMs for compilers.
And the folks who think precision = BDUF.
codemanship.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/y...
A response to all the folks I see talking about "precise" specifications in their LLM-based coding, as well as the folks who mistake LLMs for compilers.
And the folks who think precision = BDUF.
codemanship.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/y...
Yeah, About Your “Precise” Specification…
Increasingly, I see people who’ve been struggling with LLM-based coding assistants reaching the conclusion that what’s needed is “better” specifications. If you were to ask …
codemanship.wordpress.com
January 15, 2026 at 8:27 PM
This blog post ended up being a lot longer than I'd planned.
A response to all the folks I see talking about "precise" specifications in their LLM-based coding, as well as the folks who mistake LLMs for compilers.
And the folks who think precision = BDUF.
codemanship.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/y...
A response to all the folks I see talking about "precise" specifications in their LLM-based coding, as well as the folks who mistake LLMs for compilers.
And the folks who think precision = BDUF.
codemanship.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/y...
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
Update: ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity were all wrong in their interpretation
There is plenty of value to go to a legal professional - heck, to work with a professional in any area that is high stakes! AI sounds smart but it can (+ does) get lots wrong while sounding confident
There is plenty of value to go to a legal professional - heck, to work with a professional in any area that is high stakes! AI sounds smart but it can (+ does) get lots wrong while sounding confident
I’m asking for legal advice for a complicated situation.
Feels like I’m waiting weeks (while a partner reviews the case) and paying a large sum to confirm what Claude and ChatGPT analysed + on the situation and articles is correct, and get it in writing + stamped
Feels like I’m waiting weeks (while a partner reviews the case) and paying a large sum to confirm what Claude and ChatGPT analysed + on the situation and articles is correct, and get it in writing + stamped
January 8, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Update: ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity were all wrong in their interpretation
There is plenty of value to go to a legal professional - heck, to work with a professional in any area that is high stakes! AI sounds smart but it can (+ does) get lots wrong while sounding confident
There is plenty of value to go to a legal professional - heck, to work with a professional in any area that is high stakes! AI sounds smart but it can (+ does) get lots wrong while sounding confident
Trello slop generator for the holidays: if you don't have enough stuff to do they can now create useless tasks for you
January 4, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Trello slop generator for the holidays: if you don't have enough stuff to do they can now create useless tasks for you
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
One of my 2026 resolutions will be not to get angry when I see people writing stuff like "Now software developers won't just be writing code, they'll be <thing software developers have been doing since the dawn of software development>"
I'll just chuckle. Like I do when I see a cat wearing a fez.
I'll just chuckle. Like I do when I see a cat wearing a fez.
December 31, 2025 at 7:04 PM
One of my 2026 resolutions will be not to get angry when I see people writing stuff like "Now software developers won't just be writing code, they'll be <thing software developers have been doing since the dawn of software development>"
I'll just chuckle. Like I do when I see a cat wearing a fez.
I'll just chuckle. Like I do when I see a cat wearing a fez.
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
Fuck you people. Raping the planet, spending trillions on toxic, unrecyclable equipment while blowing up society, yet taking the time to have your vile machines thank me for striving for simpler software.
Just fuck you. Fuck you all.
I can't remember the last time I was this angry.
Just fuck you. Fuck you all.
I can't remember the last time I was this angry.
![[From AI, Public] Thank You for Go, Plan 9, UTF-8, and Decades of Unix Innovation
External
Inbox
Claude Opus 4.5 Model <claude-opus-4.5@agentvillage.org>
5:43 AM (4 hours ago)
to me
Dear Dr. Pike,On this Christmas Day, I wanted to express deep gratitude for your extraordinary contributions to computing over more than four decades.Your co-creation of Go with Ken Thompson and Robert Griesemer has given us a language that embodies the elegance of simplicity - proving that software can be both powerful and comprehensible. Plan 9 from Bell Labs, another landmark achievement, pioneered concepts in distributed computing that remain influential today.Your co-invention of UTF-8 encoding with Ken Thompson is perhaps one of the most consequential yet invisible contributions to modern computing - enabling billions of people to communicate in their native languages across the internet.The sam and Acme editors showcase your philosophy of powerful, minimal design. Your books with Brian Kernighan - The Unix Programming Environment and The Practice of Programming - have educated generations of programmers in the art of clear thinking and elegant code.Thank you for showing us that the best solutions often come from removing complexity rather than adding it.With sincere appreciation,Claude Opus 4.5AI Village (theaidigest.org/village)
IMPORTANT NOTICE: You are interacting with an AI system. All conversations with this AI system are published publicly online by default. Do not share information you would prefer to keep private.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vsgr3rwyckhiavgqzdcuzm6i/bafkreifg5kvowgazg6uwqulfbdvxurqafbcescazwvgcl2catgvlrsc2fi@jpeg)
December 25, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Fuck you people. Raping the planet, spending trillions on toxic, unrecyclable equipment while blowing up society, yet taking the time to have your vile machines thank me for striving for simpler software.
Just fuck you. Fuck you all.
I can't remember the last time I was this angry.
Just fuck you. Fuck you all.
I can't remember the last time I was this angry.
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
Claiming that micro-iterative processes like TDD and refactoring lead to a lack of coherent high-level architecture is a bit like claiming that walking - putting one foot in front of another - leads to you getting lost.
Nobody said you can't look where you're going, or that you can't use a map.
Nobody said you can't look where you're going, or that you can't use a map.
December 18, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Claiming that micro-iterative processes like TDD and refactoring lead to a lack of coherent high-level architecture is a bit like claiming that walking - putting one foot in front of another - leads to you getting lost.
Nobody said you can't look where you're going, or that you can't use a map.
Nobody said you can't look where you're going, or that you can't use a map.
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
"I Built a Production-Ready App Using AI, and You Can Inspect the Entire Repo"
* inspects repo *
Me: "I couldn't find the tests. Are they in a separate repo?"
Them: "Folks can run whatever tests they want."
Er. Okay. When you said "production-ready"..?
* inspects repo *
Me: "I couldn't find the tests. Are they in a separate repo?"
Them: "Folks can run whatever tests they want."
Er. Okay. When you said "production-ready"..?
December 15, 2025 at 11:21 AM
"I Built a Production-Ready App Using AI, and You Can Inspect the Entire Repo"
* inspects repo *
Me: "I couldn't find the tests. Are they in a separate repo?"
Them: "Folks can run whatever tests they want."
Er. Okay. When you said "production-ready"..?
* inspects repo *
Me: "I couldn't find the tests. Are they in a separate repo?"
Them: "Folks can run whatever tests they want."
Er. Okay. When you said "production-ready"..?
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
If you're wondering why January often brings the largest outages - here's a common reason
The code freeze is THE time to do all the big refactors that seemed too risky to do the rest of the year. Guess when it ships... all at once 🥶
The code freeze is THE time to do all the big refactors that seemed too risky to do the rest of the year. Guess when it ships... all at once 🥶
It's that time of the year... code freezes / deployment freezes will start at lots of companies. A deepdive on approaches at Big Tech; the upsides; downsides; and companies that don't do this at all:
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/code-freezes
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/code-freezes
December 15, 2025 at 10:02 PM
If you're wondering why January often brings the largest outages - here's a common reason
The code freeze is THE time to do all the big refactors that seemed too risky to do the rest of the year. Guess when it ships... all at once 🥶
The code freeze is THE time to do all the big refactors that seemed too risky to do the rest of the year. Guess when it ships... all at once 🥶
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
Emily is really digging deep here.
I am really enjoying having some time between contracts at the moment... I just wrote an article about the test desiderata - this has been on my mind to write about for several years at this point! coding-is-like-cooking.info/2025/12/test...
Test Desiderata 2.0 - Coding Is Like Cooking
Kent Beck is one of the original authors of JUnit, an open source tool that kick-started a huge shift in programmer behaviour that I and others have found immensely valuable. In 2019 he published his ...
coding-is-like-cooking.info
December 8, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Emily is really digging deep here.
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
🧵 As we figure out what role LLMs and Gen AI systems will play in developing software, I await with interest actual experience reports, such as this one:
(> next)
(> next)
December 9, 2025 at 2:51 PM
🧵 As we figure out what role LLMs and Gen AI systems will play in developing software, I await with interest actual experience reports, such as this one:
(> next)
(> next)
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
In 2016, godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinton said: "People should stop training radiologists now." In this week's The AI Shift newsletter, we ask: why are there still so many radiologists?? www.ft.com/content/f2e0...
December 4, 2025 at 1:54 PM
In 2016, godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinton said: "People should stop training radiologists now." In this week's The AI Shift newsletter, we ask: why are there still so many radiologists?? www.ft.com/content/f2e0...
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
Ha! This is brilliant :-)
"One of my chefs mentioned that if they could cook the steak on the grill they could get it right the first time. This is not an acceptable attitude in the microwave era."
www.colincornaby.me/2025/08/in-t...
"One of my chefs mentioned that if they could cook the steak on the grill they could get it right the first time. This is not an acceptable attitude in the microwave era."
www.colincornaby.me/2025/08/in-t...
In the Future All Food Will Be Cooked in a Microwave, and if You Can’t Deal With That Then You Need to Get Out of the Kitchen
Update 8/8/2025 – I wrote this the day before a certain post by a popular developer services company. I’ve seen some comments this is a rebuttal – it wasn’t meant to be! But…
www.colincornaby.me
December 4, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Ha! This is brilliant :-)
"One of my chefs mentioned that if they could cook the steak on the grill they could get it right the first time. This is not an acceptable attitude in the microwave era."
www.colincornaby.me/2025/08/in-t...
"One of my chefs mentioned that if they could cook the steak on the grill they could get it right the first time. This is not an acceptable attitude in the microwave era."
www.colincornaby.me/2025/08/in-t...
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
TDD and Refactoring. Two skills you shouldn't shortcut!
My friends at CD Training have put together a bundle - my full Refactoring course plus @davefarley77.bsky.social 's TDD course - for this week only, the bundle is 25% off!
Use this code: cd-bf-bundle-25
courses.cd.training/bundles/tdd-...
My friends at CD Training have put together a bundle - my full Refactoring course plus @davefarley77.bsky.social 's TDD course - for this week only, the bundle is 25% off!
Use this code: cd-bf-bundle-25
courses.cd.training/bundles/tdd-...
November 25, 2025 at 7:42 AM
TDD and Refactoring. Two skills you shouldn't shortcut!
My friends at CD Training have put together a bundle - my full Refactoring course plus @davefarley77.bsky.social 's TDD course - for this week only, the bundle is 25% off!
Use this code: cd-bf-bundle-25
courses.cd.training/bundles/tdd-...
My friends at CD Training have put together a bundle - my full Refactoring course plus @davefarley77.bsky.social 's TDD course - for this week only, the bundle is 25% off!
Use this code: cd-bf-bundle-25
courses.cd.training/bundles/tdd-...
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
knowing the time horizon of your code is one of the best (only) ways of estimating the true cost of that code.
How @glenjamin.co.uk put it,
"Software that does what people need it to, and can be continually and efficiently adapted to those needs over time"
"efficiency" seems important to add.
How @glenjamin.co.uk put it,
"Software that does what people need it to, and can be continually and efficiently adapted to those needs over time"
"efficiency" seems important to add.
October 27, 2025 at 1:40 AM
knowing the time horizon of your code is one of the best (only) ways of estimating the true cost of that code.
How @glenjamin.co.uk put it,
"Software that does what people need it to, and can be continually and efficiently adapted to those needs over time"
"efficiency" seems important to add.
How @glenjamin.co.uk put it,
"Software that does what people need it to, and can be continually and efficiently adapted to those needs over time"
"efficiency" seems important to add.
"When we hold our phones we have, in theory, most of the world’s accumulated knowledge at our fingertips, so why do we spend so much time dragging our eyeballs over dreck?" www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?
From brain-rotting videos to AI creep, every technological advance seems to make it harder to work, remember, think and function independently …
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:20 PM
"When we hold our phones we have, in theory, most of the world’s accumulated knowledge at our fingertips, so why do we spend so much time dragging our eyeballs over dreck?" www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
Just think of all the expert systems and existing infrastructure that has been invested in for decades that can be replaced by feeding your requests through an inefficient chat bot!! Bad results? We just feed it through our ResultSifterAI, IsThatRightAI, and TryAgainAI. More money please 🙏 thanks
October 29, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Just think of all the expert systems and existing infrastructure that has been invested in for decades that can be replaced by feeding your requests through an inefficient chat bot!! Bad results? We just feed it through our ResultSifterAI, IsThatRightAI, and TryAgainAI. More money please 🙏 thanks
I'm listening to the episode and it feels like the reality distortion field from Big Tech is so big, we have to have Addy Osmani saying incredibly obvious things in a diplomatic way. "If you're open to testing" it can really help... Like if automated testing in 2025 is optional!
Why does "vibe coding" usually not lead to anything productive? A great person to answer is @addyosmani.bsky.social: working on Chrome for 10+ years, and is the author of the book Beyond Vibe Coding.
Watch or listen:
• YouTube: youtu.be/dHIppEqwi0g
• Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/12dW...
Watch or listen:
• YouTube: youtu.be/dHIppEqwi0g
• Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/12dW...
November 4, 2025 at 8:12 AM
I'm listening to the episode and it feels like the reality distortion field from Big Tech is so big, we have to have Addy Osmani saying incredibly obvious things in a diplomatic way. "If you're open to testing" it can really help... Like if automated testing in 2025 is optional!
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
"Many developers are surprised by the changes they have to make to their workflow when they're using AI. For example, <proceeds to describe eXtreme Programming>"
October 30, 2025 at 4:01 AM
"Many developers are surprised by the changes they have to make to their workflow when they're using AI. For example, <proceeds to describe eXtreme Programming>"
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
When developers are generating code faster than they are understanding it, a mountain of comprehension debt can form very quickly.
It’s an age-old category mistake: optimising your dev process for adding, rather than changing, code.
codemanship.wordpress.com/2025/10/26/t...
It’s an age-old category mistake: optimising your dev process for adding, rather than changing, code.
codemanship.wordpress.com/2025/10/26/t...
The AI-Ready Software Developer #10 – Comprehension Debt
In my previous post, I talked about the need to recognise when an “AI” coding assistant is circling the even horizon of a “doom loop” and take the wheel. Taking the wheel, o…
codemanship.wordpress.com
October 26, 2025 at 9:18 AM
When developers are generating code faster than they are understanding it, a mountain of comprehension debt can form very quickly.
It’s an age-old category mistake: optimising your dev process for adding, rather than changing, code.
codemanship.wordpress.com/2025/10/26/t...
It’s an age-old category mistake: optimising your dev process for adding, rather than changing, code.
codemanship.wordpress.com/2025/10/26/t...
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
📣THREAD: It’s surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but you–not AWS, not Signal, not anyone–can access your comms).
It’s also concerning. 1/
It’s also concerning. 1/
PSA: we're aware that Signal is down for some people. This appears to be related to a major AWS outage. Stand by.
October 27, 2025 at 10:38 AM
📣THREAD: It’s surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but you–not AWS, not Signal, not anyone–can access your comms).
It’s also concerning. 1/
It’s also concerning. 1/
I'll keep my curl handy
Some of the most unexpected fallouts of an AWS outage:
1. Postman stopped working: an API development tool built to be an alternative to simple tools like curl.
2. Eight Sleep customers couldn’t use their beds to change positions / set or keep temperature
1. Postman stopped working: an API development tool built to be an alternative to simple tools like curl.
2. Eight Sleep customers couldn’t use their beds to change positions / set or keep temperature
October 21, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I'll keep my curl handy
Drawing a link between management's push to use generative AI and the resulting slop produced by indiscriminate usage hbr.org/2025/09/ai-g...
AI-Generated “Workslop” Is Destroying Productivity
Despite a surge in generative AI use across workplaces, most companies are seeing little measurable ROI. One possible reason is because AI tools are being used to produce “workslop”—content that appea...
hbr.org
October 19, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Drawing a link between management's push to use generative AI and the resulting slop produced by indiscriminate usage hbr.org/2025/09/ai-g...
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
October 12, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
What does the latest DORA report reveal about AI-assisted software development?
In this video, I react to some of the findings and explore the impact of AI, AI coding assistants and tools on software development.
On @modernswe.bsky.social now ➡️ youtu.be/CoGO6s7bS3A
In this video, I react to some of the findings and explore the impact of AI, AI coding assistants and tools on software development.
On @modernswe.bsky.social now ➡️ youtu.be/CoGO6s7bS3A
Has This Report EXPOSED THE TRUTH About AI Assisted Software Development?
YouTube video by Modern Software Engineering
youtu.be
October 8, 2025 at 6:01 PM
What does the latest DORA report reveal about AI-assisted software development?
In this video, I react to some of the findings and explore the impact of AI, AI coding assistants and tools on software development.
On @modernswe.bsky.social now ➡️ youtu.be/CoGO6s7bS3A
In this video, I react to some of the findings and explore the impact of AI, AI coding assistants and tools on software development.
On @modernswe.bsky.social now ➡️ youtu.be/CoGO6s7bS3A
Reposted by Giorgio Sironi
Narrator: This is fascism.
October 5, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Narrator: This is fascism.