Coding with AI tools

Stage 1 · Lesson 4 of 6

Where AI helps and where it hurts

What AI coding tools are good and bad at

AI tools shine on well-trodden work with a clear check: , syntax you half remember, explaining unfamiliar code, first drafts of tests, mechanical covered by tests, and finding your way around a new codebase. They struggle where the answer depends on facts they cannot see or rarely saw: your business rules, subtle concurrency, security decisions, performance under real load, new library versions, and big, vague tasks with no .

A good habit is to ask two questions before you prompt: can I check the result quickly, and do I already know what good looks like? If both answers are yes, hand it over. If not, think and , then use the tool for pieces.

Common trapasking an agent to build a whole application and then trying to understand thousands of lines afterwards.

A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 2 cheat sheet entries come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it

Resources for this stage

Start with

Keep handy

Also worth your time

Mark this stage as not done?