Tagged “news”
2 posts.
How AI coding tools handle context window limits
AI coding tools handle context window limits by deciding what the model never sees. They index the repository and retrieve a few relevant slices rather than loading everything, read files on demand instead of upfront, summarise or compact the conversation when it approaches the ceiling, and keep standing project rules in a file so the important instructions survive a reset. The window itself has grown enormously, but the engineering effort has not gone away, because accuracy falls as the window fills and every extra token costs money and time. Context management is the product; the model is the part that does the typing.
How to evaluate AI coding tools for your team
Evaluate an AI coding tool by giving it a real work item from your own backlog and putting the result through your normal review. Everything else follows from that: score the output against the same rubric you use for human code, check how the tool handles your conventions and your CI pipeline, and measure rework and defect rate rather than how many tasks it finished. Public benchmarks and vendor demos tell you a tool is broadly capable. They do not tell you how it behaves in a codebase with your history, your test suite and your review culture, and that is the only question a buying decision rests on.