How to use AI coding assistants for production-ready code, not just quick fixes
Augmented coding—where engineers direct AI to write quality, tested code—differs fundamentally from 'vibe coding,' where you accept whatever the AI generates. Kent Beck built a production-competitive B+ Tree library in Rust and Python by treating the AI as a senior pair programmer: enforcing TDD discipline, catching design drift early, and refusing to accept shortcuts like disabled tests or unasked-for features. The result reshapes what programming becomes when you offload syntax and boilerplate but retain architectural judgment.
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