Symbolic Matter

Symbolic Matter is a research-driven studio exploring the intersection of software design, meaning and emerging AI-assisted development practices.

The work focuses on a simple but increasingly urgent question:

How do we preserve intent, coherence and responsibility when software is increasingly produced by machines?

Current research themes

• Explicit context as a first-class engineering artifact
• Human–AI responsibility boundaries
• Design intent in AI-assisted systems
• Learning as a durable output of development

Published work

Symbolic Matter currently publishes two closely related bodies of work:

• Context-Driven Engineering (CDE)
  A conceptual framework and school of thought on treating context as the primary artifact in software development.
  https://symbolicmatter.nl/context-driven-engineering/


• Context-Driven Development Workflow (CDDW)
  A practical workflow that operationalizes CDE principles in AI-assisted development.
  https://symbolicmatter.nl/context-driven-development-workflow/

About

Symbolic Matter is the personal research and publication vehicle of Jonathan van Alteren, software architect and CTO.

This work is developed independently, alongside professional practice and is published openly to invite careful experimentation and dialogue.

The goal is not to promote tools or methodologies, but to contribute durable ideas to an industry undergoing rapid change.