Guardrails Programming
On Code, Specs, and the Anxiety of the AI-Era Developer
Latest version 1 published on April 26th, 2026
Drawing on Karl Popper, David Deutsch, and a Rich Hickey quote about “guardrail programming,” this essay speaks about the tension between specs and code — particularly relevant now in the context of AI-generated software. The argument: tests are not equivalent to code, nor a substitute for it; their purpose is to reduce cognitive load by telling a story about the system’s behaviour. What survives the shift to LLM-assisted development is architecture and methodology.
Running in Circles
Extra lightweight agent “orchestration“. A variation on the Ralph Wiggum theme
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.substack.com on February 18th, 2026
Big Ball of Mud vs. Your Coding Agent
A reflection on code quality, and why AI-assisted coding shifts the source of truth to tests
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.substack.com on December 7th, 2025
Source of Truth in SWE
Discussion of a common thought pattern
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.substack.com on December 6th, 2025
Sphere - Whitepaper
Give agents a stateful environment. Let writing scripts be their only tool, focusing on their native strength.
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.substack.com on November 22nd, 2025
Taking the Toys Away
The negative approach to agentic coding
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.substack.com on November 22nd, 2025
The Triangulation Method
Dan on Testing - Part 2
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.substack.com on October 22nd, 2025
Testing Functional Requirements
Dan on Testing - Part 1
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.substack.com on October 19th, 2025
Here to Stay
On the merits of agentic coding
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.substack.com on August 11th, 2025
New tool in the box
Where we are with AI-aided programming
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.substack.com on August 3rd, 2025
Small functions and the amazing “extract function” refactoring.
In which it is explained that we sometimes overlook the tiny things that make a huge difference
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.substack.com on November 10th, 2024
Haskell Tutorial
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.net on April 12th, 2023
Clojure Tutorial
Latest version 1 published on March 30th, 2026
Originally published on eighttrigrams.net on May 6th, 2022