Best Practices and Common Pitfalls
Best Practices and Common Pitfalls
Lessons learned from production SDD
These best practices are distilled from real-world SDD adoption across teams ranging from solo developers to enterprise engineering organizations.
Best Practices
Break Work into Small Iterations
Never ask AI to build an entire application at once. Break work into tasks completable in 15-30 minutes of AI generation. Each iteration: generate, review, test, commit.
Commit After Every Verified Change
Version control is your safety net. After each task is implemented, tested, and reviewed, commit immediately with a message referencing the task.
Keep Specs and Code in Sync
When you change the spec, regenerate affected code. When code reveals a spec gap, update the spec. The spec is always the source of truth.
Review AI Output Like a Junior Developer's Code
AI-generated code is competent but imperfect. Review it with the same rigor you would apply to a junior developer's pull request. Trust but verify.
Use Context Files Religiously
Every project gets a CLAUDE.md or equivalent. Update it when standards change. The 10 minutes you spend maintaining it saves hours of re-explaining.
Common Pitfalls
The Mega-Prompt Trap
Trying to generate an entire application from one massive prompt. Even with a perfect spec, large generation requests produce inconsistent results. Break it down.
Spec Rot
Writing a spec once and never updating it. As the project evolves, the spec must evolve too. Stale specs lead to drift between intent and implementation.
Skipping the Review
Accepting AI output without reading it because 'it compiles'. AI code often has subtle logic errors, security issues, or performance problems that only human review catches.
Over-Specifying Implementation
Dictating exact class names, function signatures, or database schemas in the spec. This removes AI's ability to find optimal solutions. Specify behavior, not structure.
No Testing Strategy
Generating code without a testing plan. AI-generated code needs MORE testing than hand-written code because the developer did not write it line by line.
The SDD Maturity Checklist
| Practice | Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spec format | Informal notes | Structured markdown | Templated with CI |
| Context files | None | Basic CLAUDE.md | Multi-file with roles |
| Task granularity | Whole features | Sub-features | 15-min increments |
| Testing | Manual | Some automated | Full TDD cycle |
| Review process | Glance at output | Read all code | Spec + code review |
| Version control | Occasional commits | Per-task commits | Conventional commits |
Your SDD Launch Checklist
Final Thought
SDD is a skill that improves with practice. Your first spec will be imperfect. Your first task breakdown will be too coarse. That is expected. The methodology rewards iteration — each cycle teaches you to write better specs, create tighter tasks, and review more effectively. Start today, improve tomorrow.
There are no comments for now.