Master AI-Powered Coding
Know the Big 3. Pick the right tools. Write better prompts. Ship faster.
New to AI? Start with our Beginners Guide!
13 bite-sized lessons for ages 8-17
The Big 3 AI Assistants
Claude
Anthropic
Who
Built by Anthropic. Known for safety-first AI research and long-context reasoning.
What
Best at complex coding, multi-file refactoring, long document analysis, and autonomous agent workflows.
When to Use
Use Claude when you need to refactor a codebase, write comprehensive docs, build full features autonomously, or analyze massive codebases.
ChatGPT
OpenAI
Who
Built by OpenAI. The most widely used AI assistant with the broadest knowledge base.
What
Best at multi-step reasoning (o3), fast prototyping, broad knowledge tasks, and agentic tool use combining search + code + images.
When to Use
Use ChatGPT for quick code generation, learning new frameworks, debugging errors, complex reasoning problems, and when you need web search integrated.
Gemini
Who
Built by Google DeepMind. Deep integration with Google Cloud, Firebase, and Android ecosystem.
What
Best at massive context analysis (2M tokens), multimodal tasks (images, video, audio, code), and Google ecosystem projects.
When to Use
Use Gemini when analyzing huge codebases, working with Firebase/Google Cloud, doing multimodal tasks, or building Android apps.
Prompting Essentials
Be Specific
Vague
Make a login page
Specific
Create a Next.js login page with email/password fields, Google OAuth, Zod validation, and shadcn/ui components.
Give Context
Vague
Fix this error
Specific
I'm getting 'Cannot read property of undefined' in my React component on line 42 when accessing user.profile.name. Here's the code and API response.
Show Examples
Vague
Format the data nicely
Specific
Format the response like: { "user": "John", "status": "active" }. Keep snake_case keys, add a processed_at timestamp.
Break It Down
Vague
Build me a complete e-commerce site
Specific
Let's start with the database schema for products, users, and orders. Show relationships and explain your choices.
Tips & Tricks
Use CLAUDE.md for persistent memory
Drop a CLAUDE.md file at your project root with your tech stack, conventions, and rules. Claude reads it automatically at the start of every session.
Let the AI ask YOU questions
Add "ask clarifying questions before implementing" to your config file. Claude's AskUserQuestion tool gives you structured choices before it writes code — catching mistakes upfront.
Use Plan Mode for big changes
Press Shift+Tab twice in Claude Code to enter Plan Mode. The AI researches and designs before coding. 90% of decisions happen at the planning stage.
Reference files with @ in Cursor
Use @file to reference specific files, @codebase to search your entire project, and @symbol to reference functions or classes directly in Cursor chat.
Use reasoning models for hard problems
o3 and o3-pro make 20% fewer errors than previous models on difficult tasks. Use them for architecture decisions, debugging, and complex multi-step analysis.
Upload entire repos to Gemini
Gemini 2.5 Pro has a 2M token context window — the largest available. Upload your full codebase for comprehensive analysis, migration planning, or architectural review.
Config files work across tools
AGENTS.md is an open standard read by Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, and more. Maintain both AGENTS.md (universal) and CLAUDE.md (Claude-specific) for full coverage.
Custom subagents for parallel work
Define specialized agents in .claude/agents/ — like a test-runner or code-reviewer. Claude can spawn up to 7 in parallel, dramatically speeding up complex workflows.
Prompt Caching
Cache your system prompts and large context blocks — cache reads cost 10% of base input price, a 90% saving on repeated context.
10% of base
Cache reads cost
90% savings on repeated context
5 minutes
Default TTL
refreshed free on each use
1 hour
Extended TTL
2× write price, still 90% read savings
4 per request
Max breakpoints
explicit mode only
Automatic Caching
Add one cache_control field at the top level of your request. The system automatically moves the breakpoint forward as conversation history grows. Best for multi-turn chats and Claude Code sessions.
Explicit Breakpoints
Place cache_control directly on individual content blocks. Supports up to 4 breakpoints per request — useful when you have multiple large static blocks (system prompt + tools + examples).
What's New
Updated hourly from official blogs