Built in 4 Days with Claude.ai

A case study in modern AI-assisted development: Where decades of experience meets cutting-edge AI collaboration

The Story Behind CSV Generator Pro

CSV Generator Pro wasn't built by AI alone, nor was it built by traditional coding alone. It's the result of something more powerful: decades of hard-won experience in data engineering combined with the collaborative capabilities of Claude.ai.

4
Days to Build
20+
Years Experience
41+
Field Types
2.3k
Lines of Code
"The best tools aren't built by AI or humans alone—they're built through collaboration. Claude helped me move at the speed of thought, while my experience ensured we built something actually useful for real-world data engineering."
— Phil Larson

The Development Journey

Day 1: Vision & Foundation

The Problem: Working with AWS Athena and Redshift daily, I constantly needed realistic test data. Existing tools were either too simple, required signup, or didn't understand data engineering needs.

The Approach: I brought the requirements, Claude brought the implementation speed. Within hours, we had the core CSV generation engine working.

Experience Matters: Knew exactly what field types data engineers need because I've been one for decades.

Day 2: S3 Integration & Real-World Features

The Challenge: Direct S3 upload with AWS Signature V4 authentication—not trivial.

The Collaboration: I knew what needed to happen (having configured countless S3 buckets). Claude helped implement the signing algorithm correctly. Together we debugged CORS issues, tested edge cases, added dynamic path templating.

The Result: A feature most commercial tools charge for, working flawlessly in the browser.

Day 3: Deterministic IDs & Data Relationships

The Insight: From years of building ETL pipelines, I knew test data needed relational integrity—the ability to JOIN across datasets.

The Implementation: Claude helped architect the deterministic ID system. I refined it based on real-world use cases from my consulting work.

Innovation: This feature didn't exist in other free tools because it requires understanding how data engineers actually work.

Day 4: Polish, Presets & Production-Ready

The Details: Configuration presets, auto-save, multi-column sorting, pagination—features that separate hobby projects from professional tools.

The Experience: I've shipped enough production code to know what "production-ready" means. Claude helped implement it fast; experience ensured we didn't skip critical features.

Vibe Coding Meets Deep Experience

This project embodies what I call "experienced vibe coding"—a new paradigm where seasoned developers use AI to move at unprecedented speed without sacrificing quality.

🎯 Vision from Experience

I've spent 20+ years in healthcare IT, data engineering, and consulting. I knew exactly what tool to build and what features mattered.

⚡ Speed from AI

Claude.ai turned days of coding into hours. No boilerplate drudgery, no syntax lookup—just rapid iteration on ideas.

🔍 Quality from Judgment

Decades of debugging production systems means I know what to test, what can break, and what users will actually need.

🚀 Innovation from Collaboration

Some features emerged from the conversation—Claude suggested improvements, I validated them against real-world needs.

What Made This Work

  • I knew the domain: Years working with Athena, Redshift, Glue, S3, and ETL pipelines
  • I knew what good looks like: Professional-grade features, not just MVP
  • I could evaluate output: Caught issues AI might miss, refined implementations
  • I knew when to iterate: Experience taught me which features were worth the time
  • AI accelerated execution: Claude handled implementation while I focused on architecture

The Technical Stack

Built with simplicity and reliability in mind:

Vanilla JavaScript HTML5 CSS3 AWS SDK (S3) Client-Side Only No Dependencies Zero Backend

Why these choices? Because after 20+ years, I know that simple architectures are the ones that actually ship, scale, and stay maintainable. No build process, no framework churn, no deployment complexity. Just solid, working code.

The Background That Made This Possible

Phil Larson - Independent Consultant

Specializing in healthcare IT, data engineering, and system integration:

  • Healthcare IT Consulting: Currently supporting Frederick Health, Inova Health System, St Lukes, and UMMC through Marvin-Medisoft
  • Data Engineering: Deep expertise in AWS analytics (Athena, Redshift, Glue, S3), ETL pipelines, and data lake architecture
  • System Integration: HL7 interfaces, hospital system upgrades, medical practice management software
  • Full-Stack Development: From browser extensions to enterprise applications, Python to Java Spring Boot
  • Infrastructure: Linux system administration, Docker, nginx, AWS cloud architecture

CSV Generator Pro emerged from real needs encountered in daily consulting work. It's the tool I wished existed every time I needed to test a data pipeline, demo an Athena query, or validate a Glue crawler.

Lessons from Building in Public

What AI-Assisted Development Enables

What AI Can't Replace

"AI is an incredible force multiplier for experienced developers. It doesn't replace expertise—it amplifies it. The catch? You need to already know what you're doing to leverage it effectively."

Available for Consulting & Projects

If CSV Generator Pro demonstrates the kind of execution, domain knowledge, and technical capability you need for your project, let's talk.

I can help with:

  • AWS Data Engineering: Athena, Redshift, Glue, Lake Formation, S3 optimization
  • Healthcare IT: HL7 interfaces, EMR integration, practice management systems
  • ETL Pipeline Development: Data transformation, validation, and loading workflows
  • Rapid Tool Development: Internal tools, data generators, automation scripts
  • System Integration: Connecting disparate systems, API development, data migration
  • Technical Architecture: System design, technology selection, scalability planning

20+ years of experience + AI-accelerated delivery = Projects that ship fast without cutting corners

📧 Get in Touch 💼 LinkedIn 🔗 GitHub

Based in Maryland, serving clients nationally in healthcare and data engineering.

The Future of Development

CSV Generator Pro is a proof of concept for a new way of building software. Not AI replacing developers, but AI augmenting experienced developers to create better tools, faster, with higher quality than either could achieve alone.

The current version adds batch processing with per-config split settings. Complex features like this - with proper validation, error handling, and per-configuration persistence - would have taken weeks before. Now? A few hours. And it's production-grade because experience still guides the process.

This is the new normal: Seasoned professionals using AI to work at speeds previously impossible while maintaining the quality only experience can provide. The developers who thrive will be those who combine deep expertise with AI collaboration fluency.

← Back to Home Try the Tool

CSV Generator Pro v2.9.1 | Built with Claude.ai in November 2024

MIT License | Free Forever | Support Development