AI Dev Tools: How Not to Get Lost in the Chaos
New AI dev tools are dropping constantly. Every week there's another "game-changing" IDE or CLI tool promising to 10x your productivity.
Over the last year I've switched from Copilot to Windsurf to Claude Code as my daily driver, so I've got some thoughts on how to navigate this mess without losing your mind or blowing your budget.
## What I'll Cover
*Tool Categories (and why it matters)*
* AI-integrated IDEs vs command-line tools - they're solving different problems
* When Cursor/Windsurf/VS Code + Copilot actually shine vs when they get in your way
* Why I ditched my GUI for a terminal-based workflow and what that taught me
*Picking Tools Without the FOMO*
* Evaluating new tools (spoiler: most aren't worth switching for)
* How to test drive tools without committing
* Red flags that indicate a tool is just hype with fancy marketing
*Making AI Actually Useful*
* Spec-driven development patterns that work across different tools
* How to structure your prompts so you're not constantly fighting the AI
* Building workflows that don't lock you into one vendor's ecosystem
*The Money Talk*
* What's actually worth paying for vs what you can get free
* How to evaluate if a $20/month tool is actually saving me time and if $100/month would 5x that
You will come away with some ideas on how to evaluate new AI tools without getting caught up in the hype and some battle-tested approaches for working with AI that'll work whether you're using the latest hotness or whatever replaces it next month.
This session is for developers who are either drowning in tool choices or wondering if they're missing out by not using the latest AI thing. If you've got a few years under your belt and are wary of all the "this changes everything" marketing speak, this is for you.
Over the last year I've switched from Copilot to Windsurf to Claude Code as my daily driver, so I've got some thoughts on how to navigate this mess without losing your mind or blowing your budget.
## What I'll Cover
*Tool Categories (and why it matters)*
* AI-integrated IDEs vs command-line tools - they're solving different problems
* When Cursor/Windsurf/VS Code + Copilot actually shine vs when they get in your way
* Why I ditched my GUI for a terminal-based workflow and what that taught me
*Picking Tools Without the FOMO*
* Evaluating new tools (spoiler: most aren't worth switching for)
* How to test drive tools without committing
* Red flags that indicate a tool is just hype with fancy marketing
*Making AI Actually Useful*
* Spec-driven development patterns that work across different tools
* How to structure your prompts so you're not constantly fighting the AI
* Building workflows that don't lock you into one vendor's ecosystem
*The Money Talk*
* What's actually worth paying for vs what you can get free
* How to evaluate if a $20/month tool is actually saving me time and if $100/month would 5x that
You will come away with some ideas on how to evaluate new AI tools without getting caught up in the hype and some battle-tested approaches for working with AI that'll work whether you're using the latest hotness or whatever replaces it next month.
This session is for developers who are either drowning in tool choices or wondering if they're missing out by not using the latest AI thing. If you've got a few years under your belt and are wary of all the "this changes everything" marketing speak, this is for you.