AI changed coding in 2024.
Do you still need to learn <coding>?
YES!
I say it again, YES!!!
You need to understand the fundamentals of coding.
This will help you debug the code.
(Which is the most difficult task with AI code)
Here's how you can become a non technical coder with AI:
ChatGPT is the best Tutor! Hands down.
Pick one tech stack and become a pro.
- NextJs TypeScript TailwindCSS
- Python flask
I picked the first one as it is a modern tech stack and AI models are trained on vast Nextjs code.
Which means less errors, and AI can debug errors after understanding the root cause.
So after you pick a tech stack; go to ChatGPT.
And prompt this;
"I want to learn the fundamentals of (your tech stack) so I can instruct AI models for coding purposes. I want to understand the technical terminology of this tech stack, structure of the code, and the codebase.
Your job is to act as my Coding Mentor and provide me a 15-Day plan. Start with basic concepts and advance towards the complex terminology of the stack.
My Goal is by the end of my training I shoukd be able to understand the code properly, I should be able to instruct AI models with proper technical terminology, I should be able to understand code errors and I should be able to debug errors manually.
Please do not miss any important topic or point. Use chain of thought reasoning to first design the training plan, then critique that training plan to find any loopholes and refine the training plan again.
Act now"
Tip: Use o1 model for creating the training plan.
Then, once you have the 15-day plan.
All you need to do is spend time with ChatGPT Claude Cursor/VsCode
1. Paste the topic in ChatGPT to ask it to explain.
(Ask bunch of questions until you understand properly)
2. Go to Claude. Ask it to make an exercise to practice that topic. (This is optional, but trust me, it'll help you in debugging)
3. Go to Cursor/VsCode/Windsurf and start the work manually. (Do not use AI until you're unto the coding part)
- perform project setup
- installing dependencies
- create folders and files
- running local environment
- connecting github
- creating new github repo
Then, you can start your coding/learning workflow.
Once you go through the 15-day training. I am 100% sure you'll be able to "prompt" AI models 80% better than the normal user.
If you can also understand the fundamentals of frontend design:
- structure of the page
- header
- sidebar
- main content area (body)
- footer
- padding
- spacing
- borders
- shadows
- fonts
- gradients, etc
AI coding depends on detailed prompting! The better the prompt, the better the code.
So learn the fundamentals of your tech stack and frontend, and you'll be able to instruct AI models to code for you.
Use these 10 Christmas holidays to become an AI Coder jumping into 2025.
I hope this post gave you an idea of how you can learn to code with AI.
Everything is free. Our attention is not free. Buy that, focus your attention on something that can change your life.
Peace.
CJ