A sufficiently detailed spec is code (haskellforall.com)

Article summary

The article argues that a sufficiently detailed specification is equivalent to code, citing the example of OpenAI's Symphony project, which claims to generate code from a specification document. However, the author contends that the specification document is more like pseudocode or code itself, rather than a simple description of requirements. The article also highlights the limitations of generating code from specifications, including the potential for flakiness and the need for precision. The author concludes that specifications are not a substitute for code, but rather a complementary aspect of software development.

Main themes

• Specifications vs Code
• Agentic Coding
• Software Development
• Artificial Intelligence
• Programming Languages
• Formal Specifications

What commenters say

• Specifications are not a substitute for code, but rather a way to define a set of expected behaviors that can be refined with an executable implementation.
• AI agents can figure out unspecified parts of a spec on their own, allowing for more flexibility in software development.
• The use of natural language to specify software requirements can lead to ambiguity and confusion, and a more formal or technical dialect may be needed to improve clarity.
• The idea that AI can generate code from specifications is misleading, as the specifications themselves can be complex and require a high degree of precision.
• The goal of software development should be to create working software that meets requirements, rather than to create software that exactly matches a human's expectations.
• The use of AI in software development will lead to the creation of new, more technical dialects of English that are optimized for machine understanding.
• The limitations of current AI models, including their reliance on training data and potential for semantic ambiguity, must be considered when using them for software development.
• The distinction between specifications and code is not always clear-cut, and the two can blur together in practice.