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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2457 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 26, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Does anyone have a good resource (or set of resources) for getting started using AI in coding that emphasizes building understanding? I've pretty much eschewed AI to this point, but it seems it's only getting more integrated and capable, so I might as well develop the skill. My experience is mostly in python in a data science context, with a little bit of C and the rare instances of assembly thrown in to run isolated or low-bandwidth sensors with extremely limited onboard compute. I have generally preferred VSCode, so bonus points if the resource integrates it.

I think the best guide for me is going to read something like, "A harness performs functions X, Y, and Z. Let's walk through setting up a basic harness so you can develop intuitions around what it's doing and how you might modify an existing harness to suit your future needs." Conversely, a terrible guide for me might read, "Download (someone else's) harness from (website); it's the best one for coding (no explanation as to why). Point your IDE at it and start typing your prompt (no elaboration on what makes a useful or effective prompt)."

I would explain your situation and the outlines of your personal knowledge to Claude, ask it to write you a CLAUDE.md based on that, and then keep asking that 'new' Claude questions about the basics as you go along. Hey Claude, what's a harness, should I be using one for my project, and what are the trade-offs?

It really is turtles all the way down, isn't it?

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