Beyond Code: Build Reliable AI-Assisted Software with Context Engineering, Mechanical Gates, and AI Agent Control (Paperback or Softback)
Language: English
Published by Packt Publishing 8/10/2026, 2026
- Softcover
- New
Seller: BargainBookStores, Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.BargainBookStores
AbeBooks seller since January 23, 2002
Condition: New
£ 29.72
Quantity: 5 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Beyond Code: Build Reliable AI-Assisted Software with Context Engineering, Mechanical Gates, and AI Agent Control.
Seller Inventory # BBS-9781808342035
- Title
- Beyond Code: Build Reliable AI-Assisted Software with Context Engineering, Mechanical Gates, and AI Agent Control (Paperback or Softback)
- Author
- McEntire, Jeremy
- Publisher
- Packt Publishing 8/10/2026
- Publication year
- 2026
- Condition
- New
- Book Type
- Book
- Binding
- Paperback or Softback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1808342038
- ISBN 13
- 9781808342035
- Item weight
- 0.69 pounds
Discover why AI changes engineering by moving attention from code output to durable decisions, safer boundaries, and shared understanding
Key Features
- Apply context engineering to control what AI coding agents see and produce
- Replace subjective code review with mechanical gates and executable acceptance criteria
- Design and coordinate multi-agent workflows that close the build-test-deploy loop reliably
Book Description
The advent of AI coding agents has triggered an identity crisis in tech. But the core of software engineering was never just about writing syntax. It is about solving problems, defining constraints, and translating business reality into scalable software solutions. Beyond Code is the practitioner's survival guide to the new landscape of software development, teaching you how to stop competing with the machine and start directing it.
The book covers the forces that determine whether AI assistance produces reliable software: context discipline, which shapes what agents see and what they ignore; mechanical gates, which replace advice-based review with verifiable pass-fail conditions; and loop closure, which keeps multi-agent coordination from drifting off-mission through Goodhart traps and proxy decay. You will work through input design, information filtering, decomposition as constraint topology, hierarchical agent coordination, and multi-pass thinking for output verification.
By the end of this book, you will be able to manage the information environment your AI agents operate within, enforce the constraint structures that keep them aligned, and build multi-agent workflows that close the build-test-deploy loop without fragile handoffs or compounding failures.
What you will learn
- Engineer context to control what AI coding agents produce
- Filter irrelevant information that degrades model output quality
- Use decomposition to create verifiable, independently testable seams
- Replace code review opinions with executable mechanical gates
- Identify and escape Goodhart traps in developer metrics and evals
- Coordinate AI agents hierarchically to reduce overhead and drift
- Apply multi-pass thinking to catch failures before they compound
- Translate software decisions into terms that align engineering teams
Who this book is for
This book is for developers, software engineers, tech leads, engineering managers, and architects who want to stay effective as code generation becomes a default part of the development workflow. It is particularly useful for those who have started using AI coding tools in production and are noticing where the outputs break down in system coherence, review quality, or team alignment. Readers should have experience building, reviewing, or leading software projects.
Table of Contents
- The Inversion
- Why Vibe Coding Fails
- Context Is the Substrate
- Feeding the Machine
- What Not to Feed
- Mechanical Gates Over Advisory Review
- Decomposition as Design
- The Constraint Topology
- Coordination Without Dialogue
- Why Hierarchy Fails (and Why You Need It Anyway)
- The Goodhart Trap
- Grokking
- Multi-Pass Thinking
- Them Problems vs You Problems
- Organizational Navigation
- What Engineers Become
- What We Build Next
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Jeremy McEntire works at the intersection of software engineering, organizational dynamics, and AI coordination. He has built large-scale systems, led engineering teams, researched multi-agent architectures, and written on how complex technical systems succeed or fail.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
BargainBookStores
Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since January 23, 2002
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 4 to 10 business days | 4 to 9 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 0.00 | £ 29.31 |
Payment methods
Store description
Save up to 90% on your favorite items at BargainBookStores.com! Our 20,000 square foot warehouse in Grand Rapids, Michigan is filled with hundreds of thousands of books and consumer goods, all at the lowest prices! We've been serving internet customers with great deals since 2001. All books ship from Grand Rapids, Michigan. 100% Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed We want to ensure your satisfaction. If you are dissatisfied with your purchase or shopping experience, we would like to hear from you. Please contact us by email: cs@bargainbookstores.com. Please be sure to include your contact information and order number. We do not charge a restocking fee for returns. Your Privacy BargainBookStores.com does not provide, sell or market customer information to other businesses or organizations.…
Specialty
Out of Print Books, Specializing in Academic and Professional Books, Bargain Books - Save Up to 90% Off Publisher's List Price!, Remainder Books, Store-Wide Range of New Books in all CategoriesSeller's business information
BargainBookStores
3423 Lousma Dr SE
Grand Rapids, MI U.S.A. 49548
Terms of sale
BargainBookStores guarantees 100% Customer Satisfaction. We ship worldwide and offer a variety of shipping methods to meet your needs. Please place your order directly via ABEBooks.com. We accept payment by MasterCard and Visa. For more information, contact us by email at cs@bargainbookstores.com. Full contact info is below:
BargainBookStores.com LLC
3423 Lousma Dr SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49548
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to BargainBookStores, Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A., without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
We will ship to all domestic and most international destinations.
Please note: Shipping times are estimated and are not guaranteed by BargainBookStores.