The Real Python Podcast

Moving Towards Spec-Driven Development

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What are the advantages of spec-driven development compared to vibe coding with an LLM? Are these recent trends a move toward declarative programming? This week on the show, Marc Brooker, VP and Distinguished Engineer at AWS, joins us to discuss specification-driven development and Kiro.

Marc describes the process of developing an application by writing specifications, which outline what a program should do and what needs it should meet. We dig into a bit of computer science history to explore the differences between declarative and imperative programming.

We also discuss Kiro, a new integrated development environment from Amazon, built around turning prompts into structured requirements. We examine the various types of documents used to specify tasks, requirements, design, and steering.

Real Python Resource Spotlight: Python Coding With AI - Learning Path

Explore tools and workflows for AI in Python: coding partners, prompt engineering, RAG, ChromaDB, FastAPI chatbots, and MCP integrations. Stay current and start today.

Topics:

  • 00:00:00 – Introduction
  • 00:02:41 – How did you get involved in open source?
  • 00:07:23 – How would you describe spec-driven development?
  • 00:10:49 – Balancing the desire to start coding with defining the project
  • 00:13:06 – What does this documentation look like?
  • 00:18:27 – Declarative vs imperative programming
  • 00:24:13 – Infrastructure as part of the design
  • 00:27:03 – Getting started with a small project
  • 00:29:05 – Committing the spec files along with the code
  • 00:31:08 – What is steering?
  • 00:34:17 – How to get better at distilling specifications?
  • 00:38:59 – What are anti-patterns in spec-driven development?
  • 00:41:08 – Should you avoid third-party libraries?
  • 00:43:16 – Real Python Resource Spotlight
  • 00:44:39 – Getting started with Kiro
  • 00:51:00 – Neuro-symbolic AI
  • 00:55:41 – What are you excited about in the world of Python?
  • 00:58:36 – What do you want to learn next?
  • 01:00:18 – How can people follow your work online?
  • 01:00:57 – Thanks and goodbye

    • Show Links:

    • Kiro and the future of AI spec-driven software development - Kiro
    • Marc Brooker’s Blog - Marc’s Blog
    • Kiro: The AI IDE for prototype to production
    • Beyond Prompts: The Future of AI-Assisted Development | Marc Brooker - YouTube
    • Understanding Spec-Driven-Development: Kiro, spec-kit, and Tessl
    • Declarative programming - Wikipedia
    • Behaviour-Driven Development - Cucumber
    • Steering - Docs - Kiro
    • Best practices - Docs - Kiro
    • CLI - Kiro
    • Does your code match your spec? - Kiro
    • Amazon takes on AI’s biggest nightmare: Hallucinations - Fast Company
    • Neuro-symbolic AI - Wikipedia
    • Spec-Driven Development: The Waterfall Strikes Back
    • G-code - Wikipedia
    • Marc Brooker (@MarcJBrooker) / X
    • Marc Brooker (@[email protected])
    • Marc Brooker - LinkedIn

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