AI makes refactoring cheaper, but tests still need to come first
dotey · x · 2026-07-24
The post argues that AI has made refactoring cheaper, but it has not changed the engineering discipline: do not refactor blindly, and write tests first.
Key point:
- AI is especially good at iterative self-correction after failures, so strong test coverage matters even more when using AI for coding.
- In other words, the modern workflow is still test first, then refactor, whether the tests are written by humans or by AI.
Related event: The Pitfalls of AI in Code Refactoring and Testing(2 posts)→
More from coding & agent
- Agent verified 'success' after double-voting: a lesson in harness vs model bugs — TejasKumar_ · 2026-10-26
- diginomica: agentic automation hype is overdone, and 'The Hackening' of enterprise security has begun — jonerp · 2026-10-26
- 'Vibe verification': ~60% of AI-written formal specs prove the wrong property — basedjensen · 2026-10-26
- Devin launches Security suite powered by Claude Mythos with $100M+ credits — DevinAI · 2026-10-26
- HackBench injects reward hacks into agent trajectories to stress-test monitors — DanielKhashabi · 2026-10-26
- Hugging Face ships hf CLI updates: deduped cache saves 19GB, faster buckets, retryable GPU jobs — yb2698 · 2026-10-26