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Developer's Guide: Programming with Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a powerful tool that can significantly accelerate your development. However, to make the most of it, it's crucial to understand how it really works. Forget the idea that AI "thinks" like a human or "knows" logic the same way you do.

It is a pattern recognition and probabilistic inference machine that translates your intent into code. By understanding this dynamic and being extremely detailed in your prompts, you will transform AI into a powerful ally, minimizing "hallucinations" and maximizing your productivity.

How AI Really "Thinks" in Code

The true magic of AI in programming lies in its ability to translate your natural language into code. It does this through two main mechanisms:

  1. Pattern Recognition: The AI has been trained on millions of examples of code and text. It doesn't "understand" programming logic like you understand a for loop or an if statement. Instead, it recognizes complex patterns in this data. It has learned that when you describe a certain functionality in natural language, there is a high probability that a specific code pattern is the solution.

  2. Inference: Based on these learned patterns, the AI makes inferences. That is, it tries to predict the most likely sequence of code to meet your request. It's as if it's saying, "Given everything I've seen, if you want X, then code Y is the most likely solution."

AI Doesn't Know Logic, It Knows Patterns!

This is the most important point to understand: AI does not have intrinsic logical reasoning. It won't sit down and debug a problem like you would, thinking step-by-step. It operates based on probability and association.

If you ask: "Create a function to add two numbers," the AI isn't thinking, "Ah, I need to declare variables, use the + operator, and return the result." Instead, it's accessing the millions of examples where "add two numbers" was translated into something like def sum(a, b): return a + b. It "infers" that this is the most likely answer to your request.

Why AI "Hallucinates" (and how to avoid it)

Where inference can mislead us is in the concept of hallucination. Hallucination occurs when the AI generates information that seems plausible but is incorrect, fabricated, or does not correspond to reality. In the context of code, this means it can generate code that:

  • Is syntactically correct but logically flawed.
  • Uses non-existent functions or libraries.
  • Solves a different problem than you asked for, or solves it in an inefficient way.

This happens because if you omit details in your prompt, the AI tries to "guess" the solution based on inference. It will fill in the gaps with what it considers most probable, and this probability doesn't always align with your specific intention.

Programming with AI: It's Like Programming in Detailed Natural Language

With all this in mind, here's how you should approach programming with AI:

  1. Be Ultra-Specific: Leave no room for guesswork. Think of the prompt as the most detailed requirements document you've ever written.

    • Bad: "Give me code for a button." (A button for what? In which technology? What does it do?)
    • Good: "Create a button component in React with the text 'Click Here', which, when clicked, displays a browser alert with the message 'Button Clicked!'. The button should have a blue background and white text."

  2. Define the Full Context: The AI doesn't know what's in your head. Tell it:

    • Programming Language: Python, JavaScript, Java, C#, etc.
    • Frameworks/Libraries: React, Angular, Vue, Node.js, Spring Boot, Flask, Pandas, NumPy.
    • Version: If relevant, mention the version (e.g., Python 3.9, React 18).
    • Final Goal: What you expect the code to do in the context of your project.

  3. Provide Examples (if possible): If you have a piece of code that is similar to what you want, or a specific data format, include it in the prompt.

    • "Based on this example JSON: {'name': 'John', 'age': 30}, create a Python function that parses it and returns a string in the format 'Name: John, Age: 30'."

  4. Break Down Complex Tasks: For large problems, break them down into smaller parts and ask the AI to solve each one separately. This reduces the chance of hallucinations and allows you to inspect each step.

    • Instead of "Create a complete e-commerce system," first ask: "Create the data structure for a product with a name, price, and stock." Then: "Create an Express.js route to list products."

  5. Always Review the Generated Code: AI is a tool, not a substitute for your knowledge. ALWAYS review the code it generates.

    • Does it do what you asked?
    • Is it optimized?
    • Are there logical or syntax errors that the AI missed?
    • Does it follow good coding practices?

  6. Iterate and Refine: If the first result isn't what you wanted, don't give up. Refine your prompt, add more details, explain what went wrong in the previous code, and try again.

What AI is not

AI is not a conscious entity or a thinking being in the human sense; it does not possess intuition, emotions, common sense, or the ability to truly "understand" the world as we do. It operates based on statistical patterns and complex calculations derived from the vast data it was trained on, which allows it to simulate intelligence and perform sophisticated tasks. However, it lacks the capacity for original reasoning or abstract logic inherent to a human brain, nor can it truly create something from scratch without having "seen" related examples or patterns before. In essence, AI is a powerful tool for processing and pattern recognition, but it lacks consciousness, its own intent, or a genuine understanding of what it produces.

Flow Certifications

To help you on this journey with AI and to introduce you to our tool, FLOW, we have 2 certifications that you should obtain during the bootcamp. They are FLOW USER and FLOW EXPERT (FLOW BUILDER is optional).

More details here

Note

We suggest that you complete these certifications by the end of the bootcamp (September 10th), so always set aside time to consume this content.