Real Development Experience with AI Coding Assistants

What it's really like to code with AI assistants day-to-day.

Daily Workflow

After three months of using AI coding assistants daily, the workflow has evolved. I now start with AI for first drafts, then focus my energy on review, architecture, and tricky logic.

Productivity Gains

Measurable improvement in throughput—roughly 40-60% faster for standard features. The biggest wins are in tests, documentation, and repetitive refactoring tasks.

What Didn't Work

AI struggles with novel algorithms, large refactors across many files, and understanding implicit project conventions. Blind trust leads to subtle bugs that are hard to trace.