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| 1 | +# Understanding CaC, CDD |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +## Context as Code (CaC) |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +Context as Code (CaC) is an approach where code, documentation, and structure serve as explicit context for both humans |
| 6 | +and AI systems, making the codebase more comprehensible and maintainable. |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +### Key principles of CaC: |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +1. **Structured Documentation**: Code is organized with meaningful comments, examples, and well-structured organization |
| 11 | + to make it a rich source of context. |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +2. **Contextual Awareness**: The code and its documentation together provide sufficient context for understanding the |
| 14 | + system's architecture and design decisions. |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +3. **Focus on Comprehensibility**: Documentation isn't separate from code but integrated as part of the codebase, |
| 17 | + ensuring it remains up-to-date. |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +> For the CaC approach (Context as Code, describing context with code) to work well, signatures alone aren't always |
| 20 | +> enough. And that's how comments appear in your code. Not those that just repeat method or class names, but meaningful |
| 21 | +> ones with examples. |
| 22 | +
|
| 23 | +## Claude (Context) Driven Development (CDD) |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +CDD is a development methodology where an AI assistant like Claude helps generate and review code based on |
| 26 | +well-structured context, with humans providing guidance and final approval. |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +### CDD workflow: |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +1. Provide relevant context to the LLM |
| 31 | +2. Define requirements or feature requests |
| 32 | +3. Collaborate with the LLM to refine the approach |
| 33 | +4. Generate code with the LLM |
| 34 | +5. Review and refine the code |
| 35 | +6. Add tests, documentation and finalize |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +**Benefits:** |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +- Automatic comment updates for changed functions |
| 40 | +- Excellent unit test generation |
| 41 | +- Reduced procrastination by offloading routine tasks |
| 42 | +- Developer focus on more interesting parts of code |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +## CTX: The Bridge Between CaC and CDD |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +CTX is the tool that connects the principles of CaC with the CDD workflow. It automates the process of gathering and |
| 47 | +structuring context from code to feed into LLMs like Claude. |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | +### How CTX supports CaC and CDD: |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +1. **Context Generation**: CTX automatically builds organized context files from various sources (code files, GitHub |
| 52 | + repositories, git diffs, web pages, etc.). |
| 53 | + |
| 54 | +2. **Structured Documentation**: As described in the documents, CTX creates well-formatted markdown documents containing |
| 55 | + all relevant context about the codebase. |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +3. **Modifiers for Optimization**: CTX includes modifiers that transform source content to make it more useful for LLM |
| 58 | + contexts, supporting the CaC principle of making code self-documenting. |
| 59 | + |
| 60 | +4. **MCP Server Integration**: CTX provides a built-in MCP (Model Control Protocol) server that allows Claude to |
| 61 | + directly access project information, enabling a more seamless CDD workflow. |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +### The Connection Between These Concepts: |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +The quality of LLM-based tools depends on the quality of context. And you can improve context quality using LLMs. |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +1. Well-structured code with good documentation (CaC) provides better context for LLMs |
| 68 | +2. LLMs with good context can write better code and documentation (CDD) |
| 69 | +3. This improved code and documentation further enhances the context (CaC) |
| 70 | +4. CTX automates the process of collecting and formatting this context |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +## Practical Implementation with CTX |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +CTX facilitates CaC and CDD with specific features: |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +1. **Document Generation**: CTX creates markdown documents with compiled content from various sources, organizing |
| 77 | + related code and context in a single file. |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | +2. **Source Management**: CTX can pull from files, GitHub repositories, git diffs, and other sources to provide |
| 80 | + comprehensive context. |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +3. **Modifiers**: CTX transforms content to make it more useful, including extracting signatures, filtering content, and |
| 83 | + generating documentation. |
| 84 | + |
| 85 | +4. **Prompts**: CTX allows defining reusable prompts for common tasks, enhancing the CDD workflow. |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | +5. **Tools Integration**: Custom tools can be executed directly by the LLM during conversations, enabling more |
| 88 | + sophisticated interactions. |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +## Benefits for Development |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +The combined approach of CaC, CDD, and CTX yields significant benefits: |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | +1. **Better Code Structure**: As mentioned in the article, "Programming with contexts forces you to structure code |
| 95 | + properly" - a positive side effect of preparing code for AI interaction. |
| 96 | + |
| 97 | +2. **Maintained Documentation**: The CDD process keeps documentation current as Claude updates comments for functions it |
| 98 | + changes. |
| 99 | + |
| 100 | +3. **Faster Development**: The article mentions completing features in about 2 hours that would have taken longer |
| 101 | + manually. |
| 102 | + |
| 103 | +4. **Reduced Cognitive Load**: The author notes they "can parallel CDD with watching conference talks" because writing |
| 104 | + prompts doesn't require getting into a flow state. |
| 105 | + |
| 106 | +5. **Focus on Interesting Problems**: By giving routine tasks to LLMs, developers can focus on the most interesting and |
| 107 | + challenging aspects of development. |
| 108 | + |
| 109 | +This integrated approach represents a new paradigm in software development where human creativity and AI capabilities |
| 110 | +complement each other, with tools like CTX serving as the crucial bridge between well-structured code and AI assistance. |
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