AI-Assisted Coding with Claude Code
Published by O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Getting started with modern software development
What you’ll learn and how you can apply it
- Write effective prompts that leverage Claude Code’s agentic capabilities for autonomous code generation and multifile editing
- Navigate Claude Code’s terminal-based workflow, including file operations, command execution, and iterative problem-solving
- Guide agentic coding sessions with appropriate supervision and iteration
- Generate, refactor, and debug code using Claude Code’s autonomous capabilities with appropriate skepticism
- Create unit tests and documentation with AI while maintaining code quality
Course description
Conducted by Andrew Stellman, this introductory-level course for software developers equips you with practical skills to leverage Claude Code, Anthropic’s agentic coding tool that works directly from your terminal. You’ll learn effective prompt engineering techniques specifically designed for Claude Code’s autonomous capabilities: reading your code base, writing and editing files, running commands, and iterating on its own work.
You’ll learn about key Claude Code features such as code analysis, refactoring, test generation, and documentation, all from the terminal. You’ll practice generating code, writing tests, improving documentation, and utilizing AI for debugging, while also learning to guide and supervise agentic workflows. By the end of the course, you’ll have the practical expertise to integrate Claude Code into your daily development practices and code more efficiently.
This live event is for you because...
- You’re a developer who’s comfortable with the command line (Python, Java, C#, JavaScript, or another language).
- You want to explore agentic AI tools that can autonomously edit code and run commands.
- You want to learn Claude Code’s capabilities for autonomous coding workflows.
- You’re interested in the shift from autocomplete-style AI to agentic AI assistants.
Prerequisites
- Claude Code installed on your machine if you want to do the exercises
- The Cursor IDE installed (free version works for all exercises)
- A free Claude account for comparison exercises
- Java JDK or .NET SDK installed for running code examples
- Experience with at least one programming language
- Comfort with the command line/terminal
- Basic understanding of unit testing
Recommended preparation:
- Download the course repository [GitHub link to come]
Recommended follow-up:
- Read AI-Assisted Programming (book)
- Review the Claude Code expert playlist
- Read Head First C# (book in ER)
- Watch GitHub Copilot Shortcuts for comparison (videos)
Schedule
The time frames are only estimates and may vary according to how the class is progressing.
Prompt engineering with Claude Code (60 minutes)
- Presentation: Understanding Claude’s unique capabilities; Claude’s reasoning and context understanding; comparing Claude with GPT-4 and other models; Claude’s approach to code understanding; how Claude processes code; leveraging Claude’s analytical capabilities; practical Claude prompting techniques; multistep reasoning; context preservation strategies
- Hands-on exercises: Analyze complex code; use Claude to refactor and document code
- Q&A
- Break
Coding with Claude Code (55 minutes)
- Presentation: Introduction to Claude Code; terminal-based agentic coding; reading, editing, and running commands; practical integration and workflow; guiding versus letting Claude Code drive; debugging with AI assistance; evaluating AI-generated code
- Demonstration: Exploring and understanding a code base; multifile editing; running tests and iterating on failures
- Hands-on exercises: Build a simple project with Claude Code; generate classes from a description; refactor with a single prompt; generate and run tests
Wrap-up and Q&A (5 minutes)
Your Instructor
Andrew Stellman
Andrew Stellman is a full-time software developer and team lead who’s passionate about writing great code. He’s the author of many books and reports published by O’Reilly, including Beautiful Teams, Learning Agile, and five editions of Head First C#. Andrew has been writing books and training people on software development, agile, project management, and other technical topics for over 20 years.