InfoQ Homepage Productivity Content on InfoQ
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AI Coding Tools Underperform in Field Study with Experienced Developers
Recent research reveals a surprising 19% increase in task completion time among developers using AI tools like Claude 3.5. Conducted by METR, this study highlights a "perception gap"—while developers felt faster, real-world performance lagged due to frictions with AI integration. These findings stress the need for rigorous evaluation of AI's impact in software development.
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How to Build Secure Software without Sacrificing Productivity
Security can clash with development efficiency. Focusing on minimizing breach impact can be more effective than prevention. Dorota Parad argues for flexibility in compliance and collaborating with security teams to define practical protections. Limiting blast radius and using automation can boost security with minimal productivity loss.
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From Architecture to Deployment: How AI-Powered Toolkits Are Unifying Developer Workflows
Developer tooling is undergoing a shift as AI moves beyond code completion to unify multiple stages of the software development workflow.
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GitHub Announces Public Preview of GitHub MCP Server
GitHub recently announced the official release of its Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, which is in public preview as of April 4th, 2025. Engineers can integrate with GitHub APIs using this open-source server, enabling automation and AI-powered interactions with the GitHub ecosystem.
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How Developers Can Eliminate Software Waste and Reduce Climate Impact
High performance and sustainability correlate; making software go faster by improving the efficiency of algorithms can reduce energy requirements, Holly Cummins said at QCon London. She suggested switching systems off when not in use to reduce the environmental footprint. Developers can achieve more by doing less, improving productivity, she said.
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Inflection Points in Engineering Productivity for Improving Productivity and Operational Excellence
As companies grow, investing in custom developer tools may become necessary. Initially, standard tools suffice, but as companies scale in engineers, maturity, and complexity, industry tools may no longer meet needs. Inflection points, such as a crisis, hyper-growth, or reaching a new market, often trigger investments, providing opportunities for improving productivity and operational excellence.
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AWS Introduces MCP Servers for AI-Assisted Cloud Development
AWS has launched the open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) Servers, revolutionizing AI-powered code assistants. These servers enhance development speed and security, ensuring adherence to AWS best practices. With features like automated Infrastructure as Code and cost insights, MCP democratizes AWS expertise and empowers developers to optimize cloud solutions effortlessly.
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How Meta is Using a New Metric for Developers: Diff Authoring Time
Diff Authoring Time (DAT). DAT is a new metric developed by engineers at Meta to measure the duration required for developers to submit changes, known as "diffs," to the codebase. By tracking the time from the initiation of a code change to its submission, DAT offers insights into the efficiency of the development process and helps identify areas for improvement.
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Ensuring Security without Harming Software Development Productivity
Security can be at odds with a fast and efficient development process. At QCon San Francisco Dorota Parad presented how to create a foundation for security without negatively impacting engineering productivity. She showed how you can make your security strategy almost invisible to the engineers while embedding it deep into the culture at the same time.
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Learnings from Internal Tool Migrations to Support Software Engineering Efficiency
In her presentation at QCon San Francisco, Ying Dai shared two critical software engineering migration stories - one focused on production monitoring and the other on production deployments with automated validations. Both migrations were driven by the goal of enhancing engineering efficiency, but each came with its own challenges and lessons.
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DX Unveils New Framework for Measuring Developer Productivity
Software development intelligence platform DX has introduced a new framework named DX Core 4, designed to help engineering leaders measure and improve developer productivity. The framework aims to simplify this task by building on older established frameworks like the DORA metrics and SPACE.
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How Meta Ported Million Lines of Android Code from Java to Kotlin
In order to maximize the benefits brought by Kotlin in terms of productivity and safety, Meta engineers have been hard at work to translate their 10 million line Android codebase from Java into Kotlin. One year into this process, they have ported approximately half of their codebase and developed a specific tool, Kotlinator, to automate the process as much as possible.
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AWS Lambda Introduces a Visual Studio Code-Based Editor with Advanced Features and AI Integration
AWS Lambda's new console features a VS Code OSS-integrated editor, enhancing code editing with customizable settings and support for larger function packages. It includes a split-screen layout for simultaneous viewing of code and outputs, real-time log tracking, and AI-driven suggestions via Amazon Q Developer.
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Study Shows AI Coding Assistant Improves Developer Productivity
Researchers from Microsoft, MIT, Princeton University, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania recently published a study that showed the use of GitHub Copilot increased developer productivity. The team conducted three separate randomized controlled trials (RCT) involving over 4,000 developers; the ones using Copilot achieved a 26% increase in productivity.
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Azure Logic Apps Standard Templates: Pre-Built Workflows for Common Integration Scenarios
Microsoft's Logic Apps (Standard) now features public preview template support, empowering developers with a library of pre-built workflows for diverse integration scenarios. Designed to simplify application management, templates offer detailed workflow insights and customizability. Aiming for GA by year-end, Microsoft encourages community participation to enhance this evolving resource.