Research Study: How Experienced Software Developers Use AI Agents in Development Workflows
By
dpflan
Plain bagel done well. Pleasantly substantive.
Summary
This research paper investigates how experienced software developers use AI agents in their workflow. Through field observations and surveys, the study finds that while developers value AI agents for productivity gains, they maintain control over software design and implementation to ensure quality. Developers employ strategies to control agent behavior and feel positive about incorporating agents into development, confident in their ability to complement AI limitations. The research highlights the importance of software development best practices in effective agent use and suggests future directions for agent interfaces and guidelines.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledThe promise of agents is that developers might write code quicker, delegate multiple tasks to different agents, and even write a full piece of software purely out of natural language.
While experienced developers value agents as a productivity boost, they retain their agency in software design and implementation out of insistence on fundamental software quality attributes.
Experienced developers feel overall positive about incorporating agents into software development given their confidence in complementing the agents' limitations.
Our results shed light on the value of software development best practices in effective use of agents, suggest the kinds of tasks for which agents may be suitable, and point towards future opportunities for better agentic interfaces and agentic use guidelines.
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