AI coding agents can generate code faster than ever—but can developers still explain why that code exists?
In this CoderLegion Developer Spotlight, software architect and founder B Donald Harris shares how AI-assisted development has reignited his passion for coding, why traditional Git history doesn't tell the whole story, and how he's building Hindsight to help developers understand the decisions, conversations, and reasoning behind their software.
From discovering programming on a Commodore 64 at age nine to exploring AI agentic workflows after more than two decades in software development, Donald offers a thoughtful perspective on the changing role of developers—and why the joy of building still matters.
Meet B Donald Harris
B Donald Harris is a software architect and founder based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has spent more than two decades building software, primarily in .NET and cloud technologies, and continues to explore new ways to build, learn, and collaborate.
His current work includes Hindsight, a workflow intelligence tool intended to help developers reconstruct how a software project evolved and understand why particular decisions were made.
Donald is also behind BIT Voices, a podcast and builder network created to showcase Black technology professionals, share their stories, and help builders discover and connect with one another.
Connect with Donald on CoderLegion:
https://coderlegion.com/user/BDonaldTechnologist
Why AI coding can leave developers with unanswered questions
AI coding agents can produce substantial amounts of code, help implement features, and accelerate development. But faster implementation creates another challenge: keeping track of everything that has changed and understanding the reasoning behind those changes.
As Donald explains in the interview, experienced developers might not remember every line of code they've written, but they can often recall the overall system design and know where to look when something goes wrong.
With agentic development, that understanding can become harder to maintain as changes and commits accumulate quickly.
A Git history may show that a feature was added, a bug was fixed, or an implementation changed. What it might not explain is why the team made that decision in the first place.
The missing context can live in conversations with AI agents, prompts, discussions between developers, terminal sessions, notes, and the reasoning behind architectural choices.
That is the problem Donald wants Hindsight to help solve.
Hindsight: Remembering the story behind software
Hindsight is a workflow intelligence tool Donald is building to help developers make sense of how their projects have evolved.
The concept is to connect a repository and bring together relevant development information, including:
- Repository history, pull requests, and issues.
- AI conversations and prompting sessions.
- Terminal sessions and development notes.
- Decisions made during implementation and debugging.
- Changes in direction and the reasoning behind them.
By working with this information and a language model, developers could build a more complete account of their project's development journey.
Rather than relying exclusively on commit messages and code changes, the aim is to preserve the context that helps explain what happened, why it happened, and how the software reached its current state.
Donald describes the project as being in development and experimentation during the interview, with an MVP alpha targeted for the beginning of the following year.
He also emphasizes that privacy and control over what information is captured and seen are important considerations for builders using such a tool.
How AI has changed Donald's approach to development
One of the most interesting moments in the conversation comes when Donald reflects on how AI coding agents have affected his relationship with programming.
He started coding at nine after his father brought home a Commodore 64. Using a book of BASIC programs, he would type instructions and watch something happen on the computer. That experience felt like magic, and it sparked a lifelong interest in building software.
Over time, professional responsibilities and other commitments meant that coding sometimes became something he did primarily for work rather than for fun.
AI-assisted development has helped bring back that original excitement.
With agents taking on much of the implementation work, Donald can spend more time thinking about architecture, orchestrating agents, and bringing ideas to life—ideas he might not previously have had the time to explore.
His perspective is not that developers should abandon their skills or stop understanding their code. Instead, he sees AI as another step in the evolution of computing, much like earlier layers of abstraction that made software development possible.
The challenge now is learning how to work effectively with these tools while maintaining control over the systems being built.
Donald also discusses a VS Code extension he created to simplify .NET project creation.
While exploring a move from Visual Studio to VS Code at work, he found that starting certain .NET projects required a sequence of command-line operations: creating solutions, creating projects, and adding projects to solutions.
He wanted a simpler workflow, so he explored the VS Code extension architecture and built a tool that automated those steps.
That project also became his first introduction to agentic workflows and helped shape his interest in how new tools could make development easier.
The experience reflects a recurring theme in Donald's work: identifying friction in the development process and finding practical ways to remove it.
Building BIT Voices and creating opportunities for others
Donald’s work extends beyond software tools.
Through the BIT Voices podcast, he provides a platform for Black technology professionals to share their experiences, work, and ideas. The accompanying BIT Voices Network is intended to help builders discover one another, showcase projects, connect, and potentially collaborate.
Donald explains that representation matters because technology professionals can be geographically and organizationally dispersed, sometimes with few opportunities to connect with others who share similar experiences.
He wants younger generations to see people like themselves building careers and creating opportunities in technology.
His decision to become more visible as a public builder is part of that mission: sharing his own work while helping others tell their stories.
Lessons from building products and communities
The interview touches on several lessons that extend beyond AI tooling.
1. Don't lose the joy of building.
Donald says the advice he wishes he had received earlier in his career was to never stop doing software development for fun. Personal projects can provide room to experiment and rediscover the excitement that first drew someone to programming.
2. Understand the reasoning, not just the implementation.
Code and commits tell part of a software project's story. The discussions, decisions, and context behind them can be equally important when maintaining or extending a system.
3. Learn to embrace technological change.
Donald sees AI as another stage in computing's evolution. Rather than dismissing it, developers can learn how to use it effectively while continuing to apply their own judgment.
4. Pay attention to how the software actually works.
Building and testing a product can reveal workflows that differ from the assumptions made during initial design. Donald emphasizes learning from those discoveries rather than rigidly following preconceived ideas.
5. Start building.
His advice to developers who want to create their own products is straightforward: start. Developers already have many of the skills needed to outline a project and begin turning an idea into something real.
Watch the full conversation
In this CoderLegion Developer Spotlight, Donald and host Tom Smith explore AI-assisted development, software architecture, Hindsight, the importance of developer context, and the work involved in building products and communities.
The conversation is particularly relevant for developers experimenting with AI coding agents and thinking about how to maintain a deeper understanding of increasingly complex codebases.
About the interviewer: Tom Smith
Tom Smith hosts this CoderLegion Developer Spotlight, speaking with developers and builders about their experiences, technical decisions, projects, and lessons learned along the way.
Connect with Tom on CoderLegion:
https://coderlegion.com/user/Tom Smith
About CoderLegion Dev Stories
CoderLegion Dev Stories shares the experiences behind software development: the people building products, the problems they solve, the decisions they make, and the lessons they learn.
If you're building something interesting, exploring a new technology, or learning from real-world development challenges, consider sharing your story with the CoderLegion community.
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Keep building, keep sharing, and keep learning from one another.
AI, AI Coding Agents, Software Development, Software Architecture, Developer Tools, Git, .NET, VS Code, Developer Stories, CoderLegion
