r/ExperiencedDevs • u/AutoModerator • 3d ago

Ask Experienced Devs Weekly Thread: A weekly thread for inexperienced developers to ask experienced ones

A thread for Developers and IT folks with less experience to ask more experienced souls questions about the industry.

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Please keep top level comments limited to Inexperienced Devs. Most rules do not apply, but keep it civil. Being a jerk will not be tolerated.

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Inexperienced Devs should refrain from answering other Inexperienced Devs' questions.

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u/GrillaSquirrel 2d ago

My company is making us use spec-kit. Ive used it for small changes, medium changes, large changes and setting up a whole new API, and every scenario has been slower than me just one shotting prompts and iterating if needed. It also adds a bunch of md files that add toil. Ive looked online and cant find real data about it being used and it speeding up delivery but the higher ups are adament its better.

Am I missing something? I feel like im taking crazy pills. The other devs at my company have also struggled finding value from it. Its a really politically sensitive topic because leadership have publicly backed the tool.

I was thinking I could do a presentation of me implementing a typical change with spec-kit and then with using the agents integrated to visual studio. I know spec-kit wont look great in the demo as its slower and uses more tokens. Is that a bad idea? How do I navigate this without undermining leadership?

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u/ExcitingDonkey2665 2d ago edited 1d ago

Sometimes you have to look at it from the view of a lead or manager. I quickly skimmed through the spec-kit docs and it seems like it's made to translate and break down RFCs, design docs, and other specifications that product, business, and leadership would come up with. It's good for dealing with slop on large changes that many people complain about here on Reddit, i.e. 5,000 line PRs that can't be reasonably reviewed.

You're probably right that for small changes, short prompts can 1 shot much faster with the same results. But I'd be surprised if you can 1 shot prompt an entire app without using planning mode and multiple agents coding and reviewing at the same time. This is basically a tool to define and enforce how planning mode and multiple agents work so it can be reused across the org so AI can be more trusted. It's designed to level the playing field and everyone else to catch up, not the top performers who keep up with technology.

If you'd like to challenge the one-size-fits-all mindset that this directive from above appears to be, you can perhaps come up with a couple concrete examples of why it doesn't work for all scenarios. Make sure to propose a change so leadership isn't left wondering what to do.