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Issue 23.6 ('Using AI to Prototype')
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FEATURE

From Idea to Prototype

Using AI to clarify, scope, and design before you ever open Xojo

Issue: 23.6 (November/December 2025)
Author: Tim Dietrich
Author Bio: Tim uses Xojo to develop custom software for businesses that are running on NetSuite.
Article Description: No description available.
Article Length (in bytes): 15,051
Starting Page Number: 12
Article Number: 23602
Related Link(s): None

Excerpt of article text...

One of the most exciting—and intimidating—moments in any software project is staring at a blank screen. For Xojo developers, that's usually the moment when we click "New Project" and ask ourselves: Where do I begin?

Xojo has always been great at helping us move from idea to prototype quickly. Its unified IDE, cross-platform compiler, and approachable language make it easy to build something tangible fast. But over the past year, I've discovered a way to accelerate the front end of that process—the messy, uncertain stage before we even open Xojo. That accelerator is AI.

Most developers know that AI can write snippets of code, explain compiler errors, or act like a copilot. Some worry that these same capabilities will eventually take our jobs. But there's another way to think about AI—one that's empowering rather than threatening: use it as a business analyst and project manager before you code. When you bring AI into your earliest design stages, you show up to the IDE with a map, not just an idea.

In this article, I'll walk you through what that looks like, share a recent case study from my own work, and outline practical ways you can use AI to define, scope, and plan your next Xojo app so that you can hit the ground running.

The Anxiety Spectrum: Threat, Copilot, and Partner

It seems that most developers I talk to fall into one of two camps when it comes to AI:

...End of Excerpt. Please purchase the magazine to read the full article.