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by Tim Abell
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- Dec 25, 20258 min
Xmas 2025 - open source and client project updates
Inspired by https://www.justfivemins.com/p/episode-146-christmas-day-2025-editionhappy xmas!FOSS projects this year of 2025:- https://github.com/timabell/disk-hog-backup- https://github.com/timabell/gitopolis- https://github.com/timabell/markdown-neuraxis- It was "Comprehension Debt" not "Cognitive Debt" - close!
- Jul 29, 20251h 1m
AI coding tool landscape in July 2025 with Tim + David
# SummaryIn this conversation, Tim Abell and David Sheardown explore the challenges and innovations in productivity tools and AI coding assistants and the overwhelming landscape of AI tools available for software development.The dialogue delves into the nuances of using AI in coding, the potential of multi-agent systems, and the importance of context in achieving optimal results.They also touch on the future of AI in automation and the implications of emerging technologies.# TakeawaysAI is reshaping the workplace, requiring adaptation from professionals.Understanding engineering problems requires a structured approach.AI coding tools are rapidly evolving and can enhance productivity.Providing clear context improves AI coding results.Multi-agent systems can coordinate tasks effectively.The landscape of AI tools is overwhelming but offers opportunities.Understanding the limitations of AI tools is crucial for effective use.Innovations in AI are making automation more accessible.It's important to balance AI use with traditional coding skills.The future of AI in software development is promising but requires careful navigation.# Full detailsIn this episode of Software Should Be Free, Tim Abell and David Sheardown delve into the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-powered coding assistants. They share hands-on experiences with various AI coding tools and models, discuss best practices (like providing clear project context vs. “vibe coding”), and outline a mental model to categorize these tools. Below are key highlights with timestamps, followed by a comprehensive list of resources mentioned.Episode Highlights00:05 – Introduction: Tim expresses feeling overwhelmed by the proliferation of AI coding tools. As a tech lead and coder, he’s been trying to keep up with the hype versus reality. The discussion is set to compare notes on different tools they’ve each tried and to map out the current AI coding assistant landscape.01:50 – Tools Tried and Initial Impressions: David shares his journey starting with Microsoft-centric tools. His go-to has been GitHub Copilot (integrated in VS Code/Visual Studio), which now leverages various models (including OpenAI and Anthropic). He has also experimented with several alternatives: Claude Code (Anthropic’s CLI agentic coder), OpenAI’s Codex CLI (an official terminal-based coding agent by OpenAI), Google’s Gemini CLI (an open-source command-line AI agent giving access to Google’s Gemini model), and Manus (a recently introduced autonomous AI coding agent). These tools all aim to boost developer productivity, but results have been mixed – for example, Tim tried the Windsurf editor (an AI-powered IDE) using an Anthropic Claude model (“Claude 3.5 Sonnet”) and found it useful but “nowhere near 10×” productivity improvement as some LinkedIn influencers claimed. The community’s take on these tools is highly polarized, with skeptics calling it hype and enthusiasts claiming dramatic gains.04:39 – Importance of Context (Prompt Engineering vs “Vibe Coding”): A major theme is providing clear requirements and context to the AI. David found that all these coding platforms (whether GUI IDE like Windsurf or Cursor, or CLI tools like Claude Code and Codex) allow you to supply custom instructions and project docs (often via Markdown) – essentially like giving the AI a spec. When he attempted building new apps, he had much more success by writing a detailed PRD (Product Requirements Document) and feeding it to the AI assistant. For instance, he gave the same spec (tech stack, features, and constraints) to Claude Code, OpenAI’s Codex CLI, and Gemini CLI, and each generated a reasonable project scaffold in minutes. All stuck to the specified frameworks and even obeyed instructions like “don’t add extra packages unless approved.” This underscores that if you prompt these tools with structured context (analogous to good old-fashioned requirements documents), they perform markedly better. David mentions that Amazon’s new AI IDE, Kiro (introduced recently as a spec-driven development tool) embraces this “context-first” approach – aiming to eliminate one-shot “vibe coding” chaos by having the AI plan from a spec before writing code. He notes that using top-tier models (Anthropic’s Claude “Opus 4” was referenced as an example, available only in an expensive plan) can further improve adherence to instructions, but even smaller models do decently if guided well.07:03 – Commun
- Apr 2, 202540 min
Practical AI coding - lessons learned - Jim+Tim
Tim & Jim discuss what they've learned trying to use AI tools such as github, gpt, windsurf, claude etc to write code in small and large projects, open and closed source.Jim: luxagen.comRotKrakenrkdVibe coding obama memeDavid just5minsWindsurf referer link for bonus creditscursor vs windsurf
- Mar 24, 202519 min
Why is reading bad code so painful?!
From the blog - https://0x5.uk/2025/01/31/why-is-reading-bad-code-so-painful/David's just-five-mins podcast - https://www.justfivemins.com/ps, when I said "Increased heart attack" I meant to say "Increased heart rate" 🤕 😆 - but maybe bad code does lead to increased heart attack, so a Freudian slip?!
- Dec 14, 202432 min
Leaders and teams for successful software projects
A piece on leadership and teams needed to create great software projects and overcome the organisational immune system, all without any fan noise, and an intro from Mark.Unicorn project bookDevOps handbook (hint, DevOps is *not* a separate team or job title, that's just Ops)Culture - The Fearless Organisation bookMeLE Fanless Mini PC Quieter 4CDead Sea Effect
- Jul 19, 20242h 57m
Confident Contracting with Neil Millard
A flowing discussion with Neil about the life of a contractor, before during and after, with some important mental health lessons hard learned along the way. Neil shares advice for people at every stage in the contracting journey, from tentative first steps to options for going beyond contracting, along with his own journey.Neil: https://www.neilmillard.com/LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmillard/Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@confidentcontractorThe new book: https://www.confident-contractor.co.uk/ - book out 24th July 2024https://www.amazon.co.uk/Confident-Contractor-Thriving-Contracting-beyond-ebook/dp/B0D8QFHBZ1 - preorder now - early bird kindle price of 99p https://www.theministryofinspiration.com/https://rethinkpress.com/books/how-to-write-your-book-without-the-fuss/Share this episode: https://share.transistor.fm/s/26ea1cb5Also in the episode:Self publishing a book with ReThink press - the backstoryThe varied journeys into IT and contractingImpostor syndrome for permies and contractors alike.CapEx vs OpEx
- May 13, 202417 min
Guest Just-5-Mins on outside-in-testing (cross-post)
David kindly had me on as a guest on his wonderful "just 5 mins" show to talk a bit more about outside-in-testing and answer some of his questions after my last episode on this show on the matter.- Just Five Mins! Episode 78 - Outside in Testing with Tim
- Apr 5, 202449 min
The importance of fully automated outside-in tests
A follow up to my blog post on test automation - with an angle that I think is missing in so much of the software industry - outside in fully automated tests from the perspective of the user is THE most important thing - plus don't let your tests see your internals, not even for setup and teardown. - automated tests blog - axiom 1 - user perspective - axiom 2 - the 99th feature - you are the expert - no internals knowledge - don't flex the rules - but how to set up state?
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About Software Should be Free
Tim Abell & (sometimes) David Sheardown look for ways to help you solve your problems with computer things.Send us a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/ssbf- https://0x5.uk/- https://twitter.com/davidsheardown
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