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Equation 7 · Part 4 · Comparing the Main Approaches to Claude Code and Agentic Development Tools

fraction

Interaction cost≈ng c\text{Interaction cost} \approx \frac{n}{g}\,c
fraction

What this part means

Divide the expression above the line by the one below it.

Its job in the formula

The expression above the fraction bar is divided by the complete expression below it. The denominator must not be zero.

The passage around this formula

The genuine trade this design makes can be stated without hand-waving. Suppose a task requires n discrete tool calls before it is complete, and let g be the number of those calls that execute between one human checkpoint and the next — the granularity of approval. A tool that asks before every action sets g=1 ; a tool that asks once for an entire plan, or once for an entire background task, sets g close to n . At a fixed cost c for each checkpoint a person has to evaluate, total interaction cost scales with the number of checkpoints: Interaction cost≈ng c\text{Interaction cost} \approx \frac{n}{g}\,c. Now suppose each individual tool call has some small, independent probability p of being consequential and wrong in a way a reviewer would…

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Learn the underlying idea

A fraction a/b means a divided by b. The top number is the numerator; the bottom number is the denominator, and it cannot be zero.

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