When Spec-Driven Development Pays Off

The practical value of specs in AI-assisted development is not ceremony; it is giving verification something concrete to check after code generation. This InfoQ article frames the shift from generating code to detecting divergence from intent, and discusses when structured requirements, acceptance criteria, traceability, and review gates reduce rework instead of merely producing more Markdown. The useful boundary is risk-sensitive: specs earn their cost for durable, integration-heavy work, but are overhead for disposable prototypes and exploratory fixes.

InfoQ provides no source comment section; the article is an interview-style technical overview rather than a benchmark claim.