Claude Code developer Boris Cherny emphasizes that development quality dramatically improves not by simply assigning coding to AI, but by creating a 'feedback loop' where AI can autonomously verify its own work results.
Imagine this. You’re planning to open a wonderful neighborhood cafe. Let’s say you have to create everything yourself, from the store logo to the emotionally resonant menu, and an online ordering website for convenient customer use. In the past, you might have racked your brain hiring professional designers and learning complex computer programming languages, but now we live in a magical era where a perfectly functioning website can appear in just a few minutes, simply by sitting comfortably in front of a computer and talking about your ideas as if to a close friend.
Recently, an exciting experiment sent deep shockwaves through the AI industry and the global developer community. This was a bold yet innovative challenge undertaken by Boris Cherny, Head of Claude Code Development at Anthropic, a world-leading AI innovation company [Source 4, Source 13]. He utilized Claude Code to completely rewrite the existing Claude desktop app, which was built with Electron (a popular software framework that allows developing desktop computer programs using web technologies) and was somewhat heavy and slow, from scratch into Swift (a programming language used to run apps smoothly and optimally on Apple devices), Apple’s latest native programming language [Source 4, Source 13].
This dramatic news quickly heated up the developer community [Source 13]. Many people exclaimed with concern, ‘Has the era finally arrived where AI completely replaces human developers’ jobs?’ However, the real story Boris Cherny, who directly led this astonishing challenge, tells us is not a fanciful tale of ‘AI magically doing everything itself.’ Rather, the core we must focus on now is an extremely realistic and valuable practical secret: ‘How to gently guide imperfect AI, collaborate more intelligently, and maximize the completeness of the final output.’ [Source 4].
Why is this important?
The various smartphone apps we use daily and the convenient web services we use for work are all the result of countless developers painstakingly entering code, line by line, behind the scenes. However, in these development processes, boring, simple, and mechanical repetitive tasks of copying code surprisingly account for a very large portion, more than creative inspiration. What if intelligent programmers worldwide could be completely freed from such mechanical simple coding tasks? They could dedicate their remaining time and energy solely to higher-level system planning and architecture design, infusing more creativity and human values [Source 1]. The future Claude Code dreams of is precisely the starting point of such a ‘productivity revolution.’
Claude Code is an innovative agent-based coding tool that runs directly in the terminal, the black-screen workspace primarily used by developers (Terminal, a program for controlling computer systems by directly inputting text commands via keyboard) [Source 11]. Here, an ‘Agent’ means an ‘autonomous AI assistant’ that goes beyond existing AI that merely provides plausible answers to user questions, instead planning, directly modifying system files, and meticulously checking execution results. Thanks to this, even ordinary people who have never studied programming now have a wide-open opportunity to easily create their own customized software with the reliable assistance of this assistant. In particular, Claude Code is not confined to the computer screen; it is lightly portable to mobile environments (iOS and Android), securing powerful mobility to easily concretize ideas into code anytime, anywhere, regardless of location [Source 3, Source 9]. It is said that Boris Cherny, the head of development himself, even takes out his smartphone (iOS) during his commute on public transport to write and refine a considerable amount of actual programming code, so can you imagine how convenient it is? [Source 3]
Easy to Understand: Smart Ways to Collaborate with AI
Boris Cherny is leading a future that inspires many, but the most astonishing fact he shares is something else entirely. It is that the real secret to determining AI’s work efficiency when using Claude Code is not ‘which expensive and excellent AI model to use,’ but ‘how we set up tasks and how meticulously we plan.’ [Source 12].
Let’s compare this to cooking. Even if you bring in a Michelin-starred, world-class chef, if you give no recipe or guidelines and simply throw raw ingredients at them, saying ‘make a delicious dish,’ it would be difficult to get a great meal. On the other hand, if you clearly plan the cooking steps, and provide meticulous feedback by tasting with a spoon and adjusting seasoning with salt and sugar during the cooking process, even a beginner cook can complete a spectacular feast. AI collaboration is exactly the same.
Simply put, the most crucial principle in collaborating with AI is to meticulously design a ‘feedback loop (a recirculation process of visually checking results and immediately correcting them)’ [Source 15]. Boris Cherny states that instead of letting Claude Code write code once and be done, humans must precisely set up the optimal stage for AI to directly test and verify whether the code it wrote runs without errors. By intelligently connecting these recirculation processes, the completeness of AI’s final output can dramatically increase by a whopping 2 to 3 times or more [Source 15].
To draw an analogy, it’s like a clever painter who doesn’t just stand idly after a brushstroke on the canvas, but rather steps back a few paces to meticulously examine the overall composition and colors, then continuously repeats the process of touching up deficient areas to enhance completeness. For example, if AI changes the layout (design arrangement) of a mobile screen to look good, the process involves virtually pressing and manipulating buttons in a web browser, and then guiding the AI to tirelessly modify and supplement until a perfectly convenient and smooth screen for users is completed [Source 3].
To implement such smooth and perfect AI collaboration, Boris Cherny proposes ‘12 core habits’ that we can apply in our daily lives [Source 12]. Among these numerous tips, the most important first step is to carefully write a very special guide file called ‘CLAUDE.md’ and establish a thorough plan before commencing full-scale programming work [Source 12]. This resonates with the wisdom of experienced architects who, no matter how urgent, meticulously draw blueprints and perfectly define where to erect columns and what bricks to use before building a massive structure.
Current Status: How Far Have We Come?
Today, Claude Code is brilliantly active as a highly capable and unique productivity partner, significantly saving developers’ precious time by making the computer’s terminal environment its main stage [Source 11]. With the introduction of dedicated software repositories that can be easily installed with just a few lines of commands on popular open-source operating systems like Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Alpine, etc.), it has dramatically lowered accessibility and entry barriers for users worldwide [Source 10].
However, there is one truth that we must soberly engrave in our minds here. No matter how advanced future technology may be, Claude Code is by no means an omnipotent magic wand that appeared out of thin air. As Boris Cherny emphasized repeatedly in interviews, this intelligent AI assistant performs its most unique strengths when it takes over ‘boring, obvious, and labor-intensive simple repetitive tasks’ that cause humans headaches [Source 1].
Therefore, only when developers present their business goals, sharpened like jewels, and meticulously design clear scoring rubrics (verification methods) to prevent AI from getting lost, and kindly point out actionable milestones step-by-step, will Claude Code truly become the best partner, expanding human capabilities dozens of times over, beyond just being an assistant [Source 12, Source 15].
What’s Next?
Claude Code’s evolutionary strides are truly dazzlingly fast. Previously, very advanced features primarily used carefully within complex desktop-only programs focused on visual screens, such as ‘Worktrees’ (a multi-workspace management method that safely separates and manages multiple independent development work areas from a single source code root), are now widely expanding to text-based terminal screens (CLI, Command Line Interface), addressing developers’ pain points effectively [Source 2].
The AI of the future we will face will not remain forever in the role of a passive typist, mechanically writing code as humans dictate. Soon, AI will completely evolve into a reliable ‘AI Teammate,’ critically evaluating its own code with logical standards, directly running virtual stress tests to fix broken parts itself, and proposing creative alternatives on par with human developers.
The path to that great future is not in a distant universe. Why don’t you, starting today, pick even a trivial everyday idea, and experience the thrilling joy of collaboration by planning with your trustworthy AI assistant and brilliantly verifying the results step by step?
AI’s Perspective: MindTickleBytes’ AI Reporter
Boris Cherny’s exciting challenge, as the creator of Claude Code, offers a profound and warm realization to modern people who gaze upon the dazzling scientific technologies emerging daily. Many people worry, ‘If AI performs tasks so perfectly and quickly, will our human usefulness and value disappear forever?’
However, my opinion as an AI on this is firmly different. Our human role is not to perish forever, but to grow much more valuable and beautiful, transforming from a passive, demanding ‘typing practitioner’ to a ‘great conductor and strict verifier’ who gently guides the overall course and preserves the dignity of the final system.
AI can be the most loyal and tireless hands and feet, actualizing humanity’s deepest imagination into tangible forms in the real world, but the beautiful domain of choosing and deciding the ultimate destination and how to walk warmly in that direction with the tool in hand will remain forever only in the human heart. Ultimately, what is greater than technology is the open mind and wisdom of humanity that faces and warmly embraces that technology.
References
- ClaudeCode Just Ate Its Own Tail: The Day AI Started Writing Itself
- Thread by @bcherny on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App
- Boris Cherny · Claude Code Playbook
- Head Of Anthropic’s Claude Code Says Prompt Engineering Not That…
- Boris Cherny (Creator of Claude Code) On What Grew His… - YouTube
- 10 Claude Code Tips from Anthropic’s Boris Cherny - YouTube
- Claude
- Install Claude Code (2026): 3 Commands for macOS, Windows…
- Claude Code overview - Anthropic
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[Claude Code Best Practices: 12 Habits of Effective… Claude Directory](https://www.claudedirectory.org/blog/claude-code-best-practices) - Claude Code Creator Speaks: At Anthropic, No Human Writes Code…
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The lessons Addy Osmani learned at Google, Boris Cherny on…
- Using a better AI model
- Providing a feedback loop to verify work results
- More prompt engineering
- Web browser
- Terminal
- Dedicated smartphone app
- Writing a CLAUDE.md file and planning before development
- Unconditionally using AI-written code as is
- Manually rewriting all code