This paper proposes a new structural pattern for software development designed to address the challenges posed by the increasing use of Large Language Models (LLMs) in coding. The core idea is to build **"legible" software** – code that has a direct and clear relationship between its structure and its observable behavior.
The theory centers around two key elements:
* **Concepts:** These are independent, user-facing units of functionality with well-defined purposes (like "Post," "Comment," or "Upvote"). They act as self-contained services.
* **Synchronizations:** These are granular, event-based rules that mediate interactions *between* concepts. They orchestrate data and control flow *without* creating direct dependencies between the concepts themselves. A new, simplified synchronization scheme is proposed, focusing on causal relationships triggered by actions and concept states.
**The goal is to achieve:**
* **Incrementality:** The ability to add new features with localized changes.
* **Integrity:** Preventing new code from breaking existing functionality.
* **Transparency:** Clear understanding of what changes have been made and what actions are happening at runtime.
By decoupling functionality into concepts and orchestrating them with granular synchronizations, the authors believe software will be more modular, easier to understand, and better suited for LLM-assisted development. The paper includes a specification format for concepts, a language for synchronizations, and a design for an execution engine, demonstrated through a case study using the RealWorld blogging application benchmark.
In essence, the theory advocates for a shift towards a more declarative and event-driven architecture to improve software maintainability and leverage the potential of LLMs in a more reliable way.
The theory centers around two key elements:
* **Concepts:** These are independent, user-facing units of functionality with well-defined purposes (like "Post," "Comment," or "Upvote"). They act as self-contained services.
* **Synchronizations:** These are granular, event-based rules that mediate interactions *between* concepts. They orchestrate data and control flow *without* creating direct dependencies between the concepts themselves. A new, simplified synchronization scheme is proposed, focusing on causal relationships triggered by actions and concept states.
**The goal is to achieve:**
* **Incrementality:** The ability to add new features with localized changes.
* **Integrity:** Preventing new code from breaking existing functionality.
* **Transparency:** Clear understanding of what changes have been made and what actions are happening at runtime.
By decoupling functionality into concepts and orchestrating them with granular synchronizations, the authors believe software will be more modular, easier to understand, and better suited for LLM-assisted development. The paper includes a specification format for concepts, a language for synchronizations, and a design for an execution engine, demonstrated through a case study using the RealWorld blogging application benchmark.
In essence, the theory advocates for a shift towards a more declarative and event-driven architecture to improve software maintainability and leverage the potential of LLMs in a more reliable way.
Researchers at MIT’s CSAIL are charting a more "modular" path ahead for software development, breaking systems into "concepts" and "synchronizations" to make code clearer, safer, and easier for LLMs to generate.
MIT researchers are proposing a new software development approach centered around "concepts" and "synchronizations" to address issues of complexity, safety, and LLM compatibility in modern software.
Concepts are self-contained units of functionality (like "sharing" or "liking") with their own state and actions, whereas synchronizations are explicit rules defining how these concepts interact, expressed in a simple, LLM-friendly language.
The benefits include ncreased modularity, transparency, easier understanding for both humans and AI, improved safety, and potential for automated software development. Real-world application: has been demonstrated by successfully restructuring features (liking, commenting, sharing) to be more modular and legible.
Future includes concept catalogs, a shift in software architecture, and improved collaboration through shared, well-tested concepts.
MIT researchers are proposing a new software development approach centered around "concepts" and "synchronizations" to address issues of complexity, safety, and LLM compatibility in modern software.
Concepts are self-contained units of functionality (like "sharing" or "liking") with their own state and actions, whereas synchronizations are explicit rules defining how these concepts interact, expressed in a simple, LLM-friendly language.
The benefits include ncreased modularity, transparency, easier understanding for both humans and AI, improved safety, and potential for automated software development. Real-world application: has been demonstrated by successfully restructuring features (liking, commenting, sharing) to be more modular and legible.
Future includes concept catalogs, a shift in software architecture, and improved collaboration through shared, well-tested concepts.
The article provides practical advice for software architects on how to effectively communicate and deploy ideas through documentation. Key takeaways include:
1. **Focus on ideas, not code**: Architects must organize and deploy ideas to people, not just machines.
2. **Use bullet points**: They help structure information clearly and make documents easy to skim.
3. **Structure with headers**: Break content into sections for easy navigation and quick information retrieval.
4. **Write for the reader**: Prioritize clarity and relevance over perfect formatting or templates.
5. **Organize chronologically**: Group documents by time (year/sprint) rather than topic to improve searchability.
6. **Document types matter**: Specific document formats like architecture overviews, dev designs, and project proposals help manage complex projects.
7. **Keep documents concise and useful**: Aim for point-in-time documentation that remains useful even if outdated.
8. **Share and iterate**: Distribute documents widely and seek feedback to improve them.
1. **Focus on ideas, not code**: Architects must organize and deploy ideas to people, not just machines.
2. **Use bullet points**: They help structure information clearly and make documents easy to skim.
3. **Structure with headers**: Break content into sections for easy navigation and quick information retrieval.
4. **Write for the reader**: Prioritize clarity and relevance over perfect formatting or templates.
5. **Organize chronologically**: Group documents by time (year/sprint) rather than topic to improve searchability.
6. **Document types matter**: Specific document formats like architecture overviews, dev designs, and project proposals help manage complex projects.
7. **Keep documents concise and useful**: Aim for point-in-time documentation that remains useful even if outdated.
8. **Share and iterate**: Distribute documents widely and seek feedback to improve them.
This Gist contains the system prompt for Claude Code, Anthropic's CLI for Claude. It details the tool's purpose, instructions for use, tone, proactive behavior, code style guidelines, task management, and references.
A new study by MIT CSAIL researchers maps the challenges of AI in software development, identifying bottlenecks and highlighting research directions to move the field forward, aiming to allow humans to focus on high-level design while automating routine tasks.
This article discusses the impact of Large Language Models (LLMs) on the field of software engineering, arguing that while LLMs can increase efficiency, it's crucial to maintain a pipeline of junior engineers who learn through practical experience and problem-solving, rather than solely relying on AI-generated code.
SWE-agent is an open-source tool that utilizes large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4o and Claude Sonnet 3.5 to autonomously fix bugs in GitHub repositories, solve cybersecurity challenges, and perform complex tasks. It features a mode called EnIGMA for offensive cybersecurity and prioritizes simplicity and adaptability.
This article provides practical tips for improving the quality and effectiveness of unit tests in Python, covering aspects like test organization, mocking, test-driven development, and avoiding common pitfalls.
An in-depth look at JavaScript fundamentals including hoisting, temporal dead zone, function declarations vs expressions, shallow vs deep copy, Object.assign, slice vs splice, forEach vs map, global execution context, polyfilling, map deep dive, and type coercion.
An Architectural Decision Record (ADR) captures a single architectural decision and its rationale, helping understand the reasons for design choices along with trade-offs and consequences.
