A comparison of two parallel implementations of the same iOS feature. Team A used PRD driven AI TDD with test first development and an adversarial "convince me this is correct" review. Team B used a human in the loop iterative approach: write code, run it, hit edge cases, refactor. Expected A to be tighter and more correct. The opposite happened. B won on three of four dimensions. A was cleaner on architecture only. B had stronger tests (golden binary fixtures, integration invariants), better threading correctness (assert(!Thread.isMainThread)), production observability (logging, performance tracking), and documentation with rationale per decision. Five mechanisms explain the gap. TDD does not generate the highest leverage tests (golden fixtures require working code first). Spec plus test creates a closed loop where no one asks "what about interactions?" TDD is hostile to instrumentation because logs and tracking have no failing test. Adversarial review hardens claims but does not reframe scope. Micro commits make the refactor step invisible and easy to skip.
Dave Poirier is a Senior iOS Developer, Mobile Security Specialist, and AI Coach based in St Jerome, Quebec, Canada. He loves technology and everything related, from gadgets to new professional techniques. Dave has a strong background in software research and development, operating systems, Voice over IP, network security, wired and wireless network engineering, complemented with an electronic engineering background. His career goal is to always keep learning, to be challenged, and to work remotely so he can be present for his family. Dave describes himself as a bug hacker and master troubleshooter. His strength is understanding a problem and getting to the root of it. He is mostly a self taught individual and a constant learner who pushes his technical boundaries daily and searches for ways to improve his skills every day. With over 20 years of experience writing software in various languages and creating or optimizing algorithms, the digital development world is his turf. Some challenges he particularly enjoyed include creating a GLSL based magnification tool for a client who was turned down by three other companies as impossible to do on macOS, optimizing several SQL queries to reduce load time of a particular web page from several seconds to sub 50 milliseconds, and identifying the root cause of stuttering animations in an iOS mobile app and implementing a mitigation strategy. His specialties include Swift, Objective C and PHP software development as well as TCP/IP and wireless network engineering.
