Tag: comparison

Use CodeAct (the agent writes executable code as its action) when your tasks chain many tools, loop, or move large data, and you can afford a sandbox. Use the JSON tool-calling loop for a handful of discrete, high-stakes actions where a code interpreter is overkill or unsafe. CodeAct wins on token cost and multi-step success rate; tool calling wins on safety and simplicity.

MCP connects one agent to its tools, A2A connects independent agents to each other. They are not competitors. Add MCP first, reach for A2A only when you have multiple separately deployed agents. Here is the wire-level difference and the code.

Use stdio for a local server one client launches, use Streamable HTTP for anything remote or multi-client, and do not build new HTTP+SSE servers -- that transport was deprecated in the 2025-03-26 MCP spec. Here is the decision, the wire-level differences, and the code for each.

Use HasData only for fixed, model-owned reference data. Use UseSeeding and UseAsyncSeeding for everything else in EF Core 11. A side-by-side comparison with the rules that force the decision.

Use cookie authentication for any app where the browser is the only client, and reserve JWT bearer tokens for APIs called by mobile apps, other services, or third parties. Here is the full decision matrix.

Use AsNoTracking for read-only queries by default. Reach for AsNoTrackingWithIdentityResolution only when the result graph contains the same entity more than once and your code depends on getting a single shared instance back.

Use FutureBuilder or StreamBuilder for a self-contained, throwaway async widget. Reach for Riverpod AsyncValue once the result is shared, cached, or mutated. Here is the decision, the gotchas, and runnable code for both. Tested on Flutter 3.44 and flutter_riverpod 3.3.1.

Use the built-in source-generated validation for synchronous, attribute-expressible rules in ASP.NET Core 11; reach for FluentValidation when you need async rules, complex cross-field logic, or validation kept out of your domain models.

Default to HybridCache for new caching code in .NET 11. Reach for IMemoryCache only when you need raw single-server speed with no serialization, and IDistributedCache only as a backing store. Here is the decision matrix.

Use Quartz.NET when an LLM job must run on a real cron and never overlap itself, Hangfire when each run must survive a restart and retry on rate limits, and a plain BackgroundService only for a loose in-process loop. A decision matrix with the cron and concurrency gotchas that pick for you.