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First published at AI Development Tips

Introduction

There is a lot of noise on the Internet regarding the use of AI tools in software development. Some say it’s the future, while others are skeptical about its effectiveness. As you’ll quickly ascertain from this article, I believe AI can be a powerful ally when used correctly.

While this article will focus on TypeScript development, many of the tips can be applied to other programming languages as well. So, don’t ignore this article just because you don’t use TypeScript. In my career, I’ve used everything from C/C++, Java, C#, JavaScript, TypeScript, Scala, and F# and I could apply each of these tips to any of those languages and associated frameworks.

Developer Focused

While this article is not intended to be an argument for hiring a developer over using AI tools to write code as someone who has never written code before, this article is developer focused. I don’t want to say you can’t use AI tools effectively if you aren’t a developer but I can assure you that your chances of success go up dramatically if you are a developer or use a developer to help you.

Summary Thesis

My summary thesis is that the AI tools are just another programming language that we can use to write code faster. However, like any programming language, it isn’t a silver bullet any more than when any other programming language, framework, library, or methodology is introduced.

When we approach the use of AI tools as just another programming language, we can start to see how the effective use of these tools depends on our ability to apply software development best practices to the use of these tools.

As many others have written about how to prompt your AI tool of choice, I’m going to focus more on best practices that go beyond AI frameworks or prompting practices. If you were looking for that information, you should look elsewhere.

In short, the best way to use AI tools effectively is to use all the best practices of software development that you should have been using all along. Only now these practices are more critical to you success because your AI tool, at least currently, is only as good as the best practices you apply to your software development process.

So, in no particular order, here is what you need to be successful using AI as your development partner.

AI Frameworks

There are several AI frameworks available, including The BMad Method, Spec-kit, OpenSpec and AgentOS. The one I use is the BMad Method, which follows an Agile/Scrum workflow. So, when I talk about stories later on, I’m referring to stories like you would find in an Agile/Scrum process.

Back to AI frameworks…

Each has advantages and disadvantages. The important thing is that they help you think through what it is you intend to accomplish with your software development effort. If you haven’t already picked one, I would encourage you to do so because it is the only way you’ll be able to write any significant software using AI tools.

To be clear, when all I need is a short utility script, I don’t bother using the BMad Method, I just describe the utility and let ‘er rip. But for anything more significant, like the Dividend-based trade management application I’m writing, I use the BMad Method to help me think through what I’m trying to accomplish.

Review the Stories

Once your AI framework has generated the stories for you, or whatever specs it is going to use to write your code, review them carefully. Make sure they accurately describe what you want to accomplish. If they don’t, modify them or have the AI tool try again until they do.

Remember, your stories are essentially teaching the AI how to write your application. If the stories are wrong or unclear, the code generated by the AI tool won’t be accurate and you’ll end up being one of those developers complaining about how AI tools don’t work.

In the case of the BMad Method, it first generates Epics and then generates Stories for each Epic. I recommend reviewing the Epics prior to generating the Stories to ensure the Epics accurately describe what you want to accomplish. Once the Epics are correct, then generate the Stories and review them as well.

Test-Driven Development (TDD)

I’ve argued for test driven development for years even if I’ve had trouble convincing my managers of the practice. But when I started using AI to develop software, I quickly realized that TDD was no longer optional. It was critical to ensuring that the code that gets generated by the AI tool is, in fact, what I had in mind. To be clear, it doesn’t guarantee that the code is correct, it just makes it a lot more likely that it will be.

I first discovered this while writing eslint rules using AI. Since writing tests for eslint rules is relatively easy and example based, I could write tests that describe what my lint rule was supposed to do. Then, I could explain to the AI tool what the lint rule was supposed to do and have it fill in any edge cases I might have made in my initial set of tests. Finally, I could prompt AI to then implement the lint rule to satisfy the tests. This process worked so well that now, every story I write for the AI to implement includes a TDD section.

End to End Tests

If you are familiar with the testing pyramid, you know that the rule of thumb is to have more unit tests than integration tests and more integration tests than end to end tests. However, when using AI tools, your end to end tests become your QA department so you’ll want as many end to end tests as it takes to ensure things you worked in in the past don’t drift as you add new features. AI has a bad habit of forgetting that the code you wrote that applies to X feature from last week when you are working on Y feature this week. End to end tests help you catch these issues before they make it to production.

UI Tests

While we are talking about tests, we don’t want to forget User Interface (UI) tests. Even if text based, most applications have a UI. Some way for the user to interact with the application. If your application has a UI, you’ll want to make sure you have UI tests to ensure that the UI works as expected and doesn’t change as your code changes without your knowledge and approval. AI tools are good at generating code but they are not so good at understanding how users interact with the UI. So, you’ll want to make sure you have UI tests to ensure that the UI works as expected.

One popular tool for UI regression testing in the TypeScript/JavaScript ecosystem is StoryBook. With the right plugins, you can have it create snapshots for all the different ways a component might be rendered. If the snapshot changes, your tests will fail and you’ll be alerted to the change. This is a great way to ensure that your UI doesn’t change unexpectedly as you add new features or modify existing ones.

If you setup StoryBook at the beginning of your project, you can even mock your data so that you can effectively use StoryBook as a way to snapshot entire pages of your application instead of just a single component. This can be a very powerful safeguard and one I’m sorry I haven’t implemented sooner in my own projects.

Code Reviews

While code reviews are important when working with a group of developers, they become critical when those “other developers” are your AI tools.

First, your stories should be short enough that you can implement the story in a small number of file changes. Ideally no more than 10 files changed with no more than 200 lines of code changed. This makes it easier to review the changes made by the AI tool.

When you review the code, just like you would do with a human developer, make sure the code meets your standards for quality, readability, and maintainability. If it doesn’t, don’t be afraid to reject the changes and have the AI tool try again. Remember, you are the boss. The AI tool is just a tool to help you get your job done faster.

Also, make sure you understand the changes made by the AI tool. Does it look like code you would have written? Can you explain it to someone else? If not, you might want to have the AI tool try again or at least make sure you understand why it made the changes it did.

One thing to watch out for is when your AI tool does something like overriding lint rules. Make sure there is a good reason for doing so and that it is documented with a comment in the code. You have the responsibility to challenge the AI tool whenever you think it has done something incorrectly.

Finally, don’t be afraid to refactor the code generated by the AI tool. Just because the AI tool wrote it doesn’t mean it’s perfect. You are still responsible for the quality of the code in your codebase.

Duplicate Code Checks

Another important code review practice is to check for duplicate code. AI tools can sometimes generate code that is similar to existing code in your codebase. This can lead to maintenance issues down the road. So, make sure you check for duplicate code and refactor it as necessary. The tool I use for this is jscpd (JS Copy/Paste Detector). It can scan your codebase for duplicate code and report any issues it finds.

Not all duplicate code is bad. Sometimes, duplication is necessary for performance or other reasons. But, in general, you want to minimize duplicate code in your codebase so that when you fix a bug or add a feature in one place, every place where it applies gets that change.

Automated Code Reviews

There are several products on the market that use AI to review your code. Some of these products can be integrated into your CI/CD pipeline to automatically review code changes made by the AI tool. This can help you catch issues early and ensure that the code meets your standards for quality, readability, and maintainability. One such tool that I use is CodeRabbit. It integrates with GitHub and can automatically review pull requests for code quality issues. It can also be configured to enforce coding standards and best practices.

Related to this, there are several static analysis tools that can help you identify potential issues in your code. These tools can be used in conjunction with AI tools to ensure that the code generated by the AI tool is of high quality. Two TypeScript-friendly examples are SonarQube and ESLint. You can checkout my SmartNgRX project for an example of pretty strict ESLint rules for TypeScript development.

Visual Testing

Finally, you should at least review as much of the application visually as possible. While automated tests are great, they can’t catch everything. There are some things that only a human can catch by looking at the application. So, make sure you take the time to review the application visually to ensure that everything looks and works as expected.

Applying This Advice as a non-Developer

If you are not a developer, you can still apply most of this advice by asking the AI for help. For example, you can ask AI what the best practices are for writing tests for your application and have it set that up. You can also ask it what tools are generally used to ensure code quality and have it set those up as well.

The point is to not just blindly accept the code generated by the AI tool. You need to take an active role in ensuring that the code meets your standards for quality, readability, and maintainability. By applying these best practices, you can ensure that your AI generated code is of high quality and meets your needs.

If you don’t have standards for quality, readability, and maintainability, you’ll need to get help either from AI or a developer with experience. One developer with more than 10 years of experience following these rules can help you avoid a lot of pitfalls that can easily cost you more time and money in the long run.

Readers are a special kind of people. As writers, we love them, of course, but their great love of books makes them do strange things. This post is about 20 weird things readers do.

20 Weird Things Readers Do

Readers are perfectly normal – or so they think. People who don’t read find them quirky. Let’s take a closer look. In this post, we’ll count down the twenty weird things, debunk a few myths, and confirm all that you have ever thought about bookworms. Let’s count them down. Enjoy!

The Top 20 Bookish Quirks

20. Use books for better posture. Tried and tested. Place a heavy book on top of your head and slowly walk around the room. In the old days, girls used to do this to improve their posture. Today, we all know that avid readers can truly develop a hump, so this countermove is highly beneficial. Think of it as physiotherapy.
19. Believe that reading guarantees mastery. A popular delusion among readers. They read about a skill, and instantly, they have mastered it by sheer osmosis. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way! But the reading part is fun.
18. Feel invariably drawn to cats. There’s no scientific study about this, just my personal experience. Readers love cats more than other pets. They share cat videos, love petting cats, and wear cute cat T-shirts. Honestly, I don’t know where it comes from. Or why don’t they love dogs or fish?
17. Enjoy bookish gifts. You’d be amazed at what you can gift: blankets, socks, coffee mugs, brooches, pendants, reading lamps, book cushions, and book-themed cases for reading glasses. Anything adorned with a book is perfect!
16. Keep a ‘To Be Read’ pile. Or a ‘To Be Read’ list. Insiders use the abbreviation ‘TBR’ (for both). Usually, the pile is kept on the nightstand, and the list needs to be handy, so it’ll be on most readers’ cell phones. Items are taken off this list, but the speed at which the TBR grows is much greater.
15. Feel anxiety when they run out of books. As the TBR pile gets slim, readers feel nervous. This turns into downright itchiness, bordering on a frenzied impulse to buy new books. That’s why they always carry more books in their suitcases than anyone could ever read. Of course, professional readers have a book subscription on their digital reading devices. Thank God for inventing smartphones!
14. Use books to decorate every room. Everybody does that, right? It just makes you look smart. Cookbooks in a kitchen are common, but books about the art of cleaning in the laundry room? Now, that’s a true reader. Decorating with books stops you from buying overpriced souvenirs when you’re on vacation.
13. Feel itchy in houses without books. Honestly, how can you live like that? And why would you want to?
12. Sniffing books. Can there ever be a more delightful scent? It’s like being transported into the fictional world of the book. Antique books smell differently from modern ones. If I don’t like the smell of a book, I won’t buy it. Can you believe there’s even an online store selling fragrances according to your favourite book? I wasn’t surprised.
11. Keep reading journals. The reading journal completes the cycle of a book in any reader’s house. First, it’s on the TBR list, then on the TBR pile. Once read, any book requires an entry in the reading journal. How else would you keep track? It’s like the hero’s journey, but for the book itself.
10. Despise others for cruelty against books. I won’t even discuss burning a book. That’s a capital offence. Yet even using a dog’s ear instead of a bookmark, tearing the cover, or even soiling the book in any part – what a shame! Book cruelty is the epitome of social decline.
9. Own more book bags than purses. Readers are stylish people, too. If you’re a bookish lady, then your book bag needs to match your outfit. And any stylish gentleman should bring an extra book bag just in case his bookish lady has bought more books than she can schlepp.
8. Keep a reading pharmacy. Ever heard of that? Think about it this way. Whatever the mood, a true reader always owns the perfect book. So, there are action books for powerful days. And when we need to wallow in our pain, then there are books dripping with melancholy. It’s a fact that just owning a book can lift your spirits. I strongly believe in emotional support books.
7. Visit foreign libraries and bookstores rather than the sights. When you’re on holiday, you can read about any touristy sight in a book. But the libraries, or the bookstores, those you must experience. Honestly, why would you want to mingle with the tourists when you can mingle with other bookworms?
6. Choose furniture according to reading comfort. Bookworms need armchairs with lamps and footrests. Reading furniture must be designed for prolonged stays.
5. Evaluate other people according to their bookshelf. Let’s say you’re invited to this new friend’s home. Readers will always check out the bookshelf to find out more about their new friends. The selection of books is a psychological profile.
4. Hide their most cherished books from view. Book selections are incredibly intimate. It’s like showing the dark spots of your soul to visitors. Enthusiastic bookworms hide their treasures in the bedroom or the private office. The living room only gets the surplus.
3. Never finish mid-chapter. It’s just not satisfying! Yet putting the book away when the chapter ends on a cliffhanger is virtually impossible. That’s why readers always get very little sleep.
2. Talk about fictional characters as if they’re real. That’s because they are. Period.
1. Believe that books are always the answer. And they are. If the answer is not in a book, then the answer doesn’t exist. But you’ll find a book about someone who tries to find that answer.

The Last Word

I hope you’ve enjoyed our humorous look at the 20 weird things readers do. Do you recognise yourself? If you have strange habits we forgot to mention, please leave a comment! Happy reading!

By Susanne Bennett. Susanne is a German-American writer who is a journalist by trade and a writer by heart. After years of working at German public radio and an online news portal, she has decided to accept challenges by Deadlines for Writers. Currently she is writing her first novel with them. She is known for overweight purses and carrying a novel everywhere. Follow her on Facebook.

More Posts From Susanne

1. The 5 Most Common Themes In Literature
2. What’s A Golden Shovel Poem? & How Do I Write One?
3. How Your Writing Tool Shapes Your Text
4. Why Writers Should Write By Hand
5. What Is A Parody & How Do I Write One?
6. The 7 Pillars Of Historical Fiction
7. How To Travel Like A Writer
8. What Is Dystopian Fiction? & How Do I Write It?
9. Impostor Syndrome – What It Is And How To Get Over It
10. 5 Addictions That Secretly Sabotage Your Writing

Top Tip: Find out more about our workbooks and online courses in our shop.

The post 20 Weird Things Readers Do appeared first on Writers Write.

Merry Chrysler! ’Tis the season (as they say), and this week’s list of things to do in Philadelphia celebrates the most wonderful time of year.

Philly venues are decked out in wintry whimsy with shows like Cirque Dreams Holidaze at the Miller Theater (Tuesday through Sunday) and Disney On Ice Presents: Jump In! at Xfinity Mobile Arena (opens Friday).

It’s a great time bring the fam to neighborhood light spectacles like Miracle on South 13th Street (through January 2026) and the Smedley Street Christmas Light Spectacular (through January 2026).

Santa not your thing? Enjoy the day off with wholesome multicultural fun during Being ___ at Christmas 2025 at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History (Thursday).

And Kwanzaa brings a week of joyous events to the city, including the big 2025 Kwanzaa Kick-off at City Hall (Friday).

Plus, it’s your last chance for Philly holiday staples like Christmas Village in Philadelphia at LOVE Park and City Hall (through Wednesday) and the Wanamaker Light Show & Dickens Village (through Wednesday).

Below, find the best things to do in Philadelphia this week and weekend, December 22 to 28, 2025.

Microsoft Paint now has a new toggle that lets you hide the toolbar automatically. You can also show the toolbar when you actually need it and let it remain hidden the rest of the time. It’s a nifty addition, and I can see a couple of use cases if you use Paint all the time. At the same time, Paint is also getting some new AI features.

There are a couple of use cases for hiding the toolbar automatically. The Paint’s toolbar has grown in size, especially after getting a “modern” UI revamp, and that means it takes up more space. With this new toggle, you can set Paint to automatically hide the toolbar, and there’s a toggle to show the toolbar if you want to change brush size or something.

Or it’s also a good feature if you want to focus specifically on the canvas for tight editing, zooming, or finishing touches. I can’t think of any other use cases, but it’s always nice to have options, especially when there are too many features in an app.

I wish Microsoft would also add a toggle that lets me turn off the growing Copilot features in Paint, but I doubt that will happen

Paint gets new AI features as part of “Labs.”

Microsoft has a “Windows AI Labs” program that lets you experiment with upcoming AI features, but it’s quite limited, and not everybody has access to it. For good or bad reasons, I do have access to Paint’s AI Labs on one of my PCs, and there’s a new feature called “Generative edit.”

“Generative Edit” option popped up a while ago, but it looks like Microsoft really improved the AI model after the recent update.

Copilot in Paint has always allowed you to generate images, but up until now, it was not possible to edit an image using a prompt. With Generative edit, Microsoft says Paint uses an AI model that makes changes to your input image based on your text description. It does not appear to be GPT-based and is most likely an in-house model by Microsoft

“If you find a creation to be unexpected or offensive, send us feedback,” Microsoft warns within the app, so there is a possibility the AI could go rough.

There is no guarantee that AI Labs features like “Generative Edit” will stay in Paint, as Microsoft previously tested “animations,” which allowed you to create short clips using your Paint edits, but the feature did not make the cut, as Microsoft has pulled it from MS Paint, even if you are signed up for Labs.

The post Windows 11 Paint now lets you hide ‘toolbar,’ and is also getting new AI features appeared first on Windows Latest

An anonymous reader shared this report from CNBC: The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a new initiative dubbed the "U.S. Tech Force," comprising about 1,000 engineers and other specialists who will work on artificial intelligence infrastructure and other technology projects throughout the federal government. Participants will commit to a two-year employment program working with teams that report directly to agency leaders in "collaboration with leading technology companies," according to an official government website. ["...and work closely with senior managers from companies partnering with the Tech Force."] Those "private sector partners" include Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google Public Sector, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Oracle, Palantir, Salesforce and numerous others [including AMD, IBM, Coinbase, Robinhood, Uber, xAI, and Zoom], the website says. The Tech Force shows the Trump administration increasing its focus on developing America's AI infrastructure as it competes with China for dominance in the rapidly growing industry... The engineering corps will be working on "high-impact technology initiatives including AI implementation, application development, data modernization, and digital service delivery across federal agencies," the site says. "Answer the call," says the new web site at TechForce.gov. "Upon completing the program, engineers can seek employment with the partnering private-sector companies for potential full-time roles — demonstrating the value of combining civil service with technical expertise." [And those private sector companies can also nominate employees to participate.] "Annual salaries are expected to be in the approximate range of $150,000 to $200,000."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.