Does Spec-Driven Development Reduce Defects? An Empirical Test of Industry Claims Across 119 Open-Source Repositories

Key Points

• Assess whether spec-driven development leads to reduced defects in open-source software projects.
• Conducted a large-scale empirical analysis across 119 open-source repositories.
• Utilized within-author fixed effects for analysis.
• Implemented JIT (Just-In-Time) defect prediction controls for accuracy.
• No significant association found between specification presence and defect outcomes.
• Specification quality showed no correlation with reduced defects.
• Null results were consistent across various robustness checks.