DevOps Paradox · 2026-07-01 · 57 min
#357: Type a prompt, get code, fix the hallucinations, type another prompt. That is vibe coding, and it is a fine place to start. It is a terrible place to stay. So what comes next - and is spec-driven development actually it, or just waterfall wearing a new hat? Here is the reframe that runs the whole conversation: everybody already works from a spec. Even the person who swears they are winging it has a spec in their head - which language, where it runs, what it does. The real question was never specs or no specs. It is whether you write them like waterfall, one giant document before anyone touches code, or like agile, just enough to start and the rest discovered as you go. A design is only validated when you implement it - everything before that is an educated guess. So instead of spending a month on one detailed design, build five throwaway MVPs in a day. Fully operational. Frontend, backend, running in a cluster, connected to a database. Show them to customers. Pick the one that works. Then have the agent write the spec from the winning code, and throw the code away. The spec is the output, not the input. A PowerPoint took you a month and told the customer nothing.
DOP 358: Just-in-Time Access for AI Agents71 / 100
DOP 356: Warehouse Robots Are a Distributed System83 / 100
DOP 355: Why AI Coding Slows Down Code Review67 / 100
DOP 354: Your Dead Founder Trains New Hires73 / 100
DOP 353: A Person Owns It Not the AI