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That confirms the recent spike of Claude calling everything I was recently working on a 'spike'. I still don't know what that term is supposed to represent (app

That confirms the recent spike of Claude calling everything I was recently working on a 'spike'. I still don't know what that term is supposed to represent (apparently).

Kwpolska 3mo ago
In some software development methodologies, "spike" is a task whose goal is figuring something out instead of delivering shippable code. https://agiledictionary.com/209/spike/ https://agiledictionary.com/209/spike/
- Espressosaurus 3mo ago
  Why can't they call it a prototype or experiment? Sheesh.
  - bloomca 3mo ago
    Prototype is usually something working, while spike can be pure research (e.g. validate that APIs are feasible and enough, or that something satisfies requirements). Prototype is usually more polished/usable. Experiment in my mind is something which user-facing but not in stable yet. So for me they are differentiated enough, but could be that I am just used to it.
    - Espressosaurus 3mo ago
      An experiment doesn’t say anything about user facing or not. I do tons of them when reverse engineering poorly documented hardware and APIs to determine if the thing I’m trying to do is even supported.
      - bloomca 2mo ago
        In general, yes, but I would say "experimental features" is a pretty widely used term, so in my mind the association with something user facing is strong.
  - bitwize 2mo ago
    "Spike" comes from Extreme Programming where it means specifically code written without TDD. Code that wasn't written against a pre-existing test is by definition broken, and should not go into production. So you create a simple "spike solution" to explore the problem space, so called because it cross-cuts concerns like a spike going through wood or something, I dunno. Spikes are explicitly time-boxed to keep the team focused on the red-green-refactor churn which is the software engineering process in XP.
- smj-edison 3mo ago
  TIL that agile has its own words for everything.
  - swader999 2mo ago
    That was a thing in the early 2000's. You had to have a blog and invent words that describe regular things everyone did.
xg15 3mo ago
A spike is an early prototype that you're supposed to throw away after having figured out the real design. I think it was subtly dissing you.
- confusedbucket 3mo ago
  I think you are subtly dissing me :) I was half-joking, of course I could've just asked Claude, but the linked site shows there has been actual recent spikes in the use of the word 'spike'. The term does match what I was recently doing, but hacking around legacy ERP software, blackboxes and other enterprise abominations isn't that out of the ordinary for me.

That confirms the recent spike of Claude calling everything I was recently working on a 'spike'. I still don't know what that term is supposed to represent (apparently).

Kwpolska 3mo ago

In some software development methodologies, "spike" is a task whose goal is figuring something out instead of delivering shippable code. https://agiledictionary.com/209/spike/ https://agiledictionary.com/209/spike/

Espressosaurus 3mo ago
Why can't they call it a prototype or experiment? Sheesh.
- bloomca 3mo ago
  Prototype is usually something working, while spike can be pure research (e.g. validate that APIs are feasible and enough, or that something satisfies requirements). Prototype is usually more polished/usable. Experiment in my mind is something which user-facing but not in stable yet. So for me they are differentiated enough, but could be that I am just used to it.
  - Espressosaurus 3mo ago
    An experiment doesn’t say anything about user facing or not. I do tons of them when reverse engineering poorly documented hardware and APIs to determine if the thing I’m trying to do is even supported.
    - bloomca 2mo ago
      In general, yes, but I would say "experimental features" is a pretty widely used term, so in my mind the association with something user facing is strong.
- bitwize 2mo ago
  "Spike" comes from Extreme Programming where it means specifically code written without TDD. Code that wasn't written against a pre-existing test is by definition broken, and should not go into production. So you create a simple "spike solution" to explore the problem space, so called because it cross-cuts concerns like a spike going through wood or something, I dunno. Spikes are explicitly time-boxed to keep the team focused on the red-green-refactor churn which is the software engineering process in XP.
smj-edison 3mo ago
TIL that agile has its own words for everything.
- swader999 2mo ago
  That was a thing in the early 2000's. You had to have a blog and invent words that describe regular things everyone did.

xg15 3mo ago

A spike is an early prototype that you're supposed to throw away after having figured out the real design. I think it was subtly dissing you.

confusedbucket 3mo ago
I think you are subtly dissing me :) I was half-joking, of course I could've just asked Claude, but the linked site shows there has been actual recent spikes in the use of the word 'spike'. The term does match what I was recently doing, but hacking around legacy ERP software, blackboxes and other enterprise abominations isn't that out of the ordinary for me.