Coding

The infinite intern that never sleeps, but often hallucinates. Your job is to be the Architect; the AI is the Builder.

Code is the direct translation of will into structure.

The Engineering Loop

Step	Human (Architect)	AI (Builder)
1. Spec	Define the what and why (Constraints)	-
2. Draft	-	Generate implementation
3. Review	Audit against standards	-
4. Refine	"Fix the edge case"	Iterate
5. Ship	Verify and merge	-

Techniques

1. Context Injection

Code doesn't exist in a vacuum. The model needs to "see" the repository.

• The Dump: Paste relevant file contents before your request.
• The Graph: Explain how File A imports File B.
• The Stack: Explicitly state: "Next.js 14, App Router, Tailwind, TypeScript".

2. Role Prompting

Define the expertise level to avoid generic solutions.

"Act as a Senior Systems Engineer. Review this code for security vulnerabilities and performance bottlenecks, ignoring style nitpicks."

3. The Debug Protocol

Don't just paste the error.

1. Paste the error.
2. Paste the suspect code.
3. Prompt: "Explain why this error is happening, then propose 3 potential fixes ranked by probability."

4. Refactoring with Intent

Never just say "clean this up".

"Refactor this function to improve readability and separate concerns. Extract the data transformation logic into a utility function. Maintain all current type safety."

Common Pitfalls

• The Silent Breaking Change: AI changes an API signature without updating the caller.
• The Library Hallucination: Importing a perfect utility function that doesn't exist.
• The Loop: Getting stuck in a cycle of error -> fix -> new error -> revert to original error. Break the loop by stepping back and asking: "Are we solving the right problem?"

Tooling

• Cursor - Native context injection.
• GitHub Copilot - Autocomplete flow.
• Claude 3.5 Sonnet - The current king of coding reasoning.

Mantra

Code is a liability. Only functionality is an asset.