Specification-Driven Development: The Four Pillars

Specification-Driven Development (SDD) is a methodology where specifications precede implementation, built on four pillars with traceability as the first. Every behavioral change must trace bidirectionally to a requirement via unique identifiers (e.g., FR-AUTH-002), ensuring no orphan code or unimplemented requirements exist. AI tools accelerate each stage but do not replace the need for traceable requirements, single sources of truth, and automated validation.