04-801-O1   AI for Programmers: Foundations

Course description

This course is an introductory survey course exploring the essential topics for coders to understand and use agent AI for coding in an effective and ethical manor. It introduces programmers to the core topics, challenges, and ethics of using AI and agents AI for software engineering. This includes understanding that AI is a tool for programmers, not a replacement, and requires software engineering skills in order to guide the software development process. It includes an intro to Python coding for AI. And will involve writing basic AI-assisted software programs.

Learning objectives

The main objective of this course is for students to become conversant in the field of AI for programmers, including understanding how to use it as a tool, how to have an effective approach that results in reliable, and robust software and how to navigate the ethical considerations.

Outcomes

1. Establish an understanding of the current state of Agentic AI for programmers by understanding how to survey the field.
2. Understand the common platforms for AI for coders and how to select an appropriate one(s).
3. Understand the ethical issues around using AI to generate code and how to responsibly navigate them.
4. Setup one or more agentic AI workflow environments.
5. Learn and use Python at an introductory level to write basic programs using AI best-practices.

Content details

Topics include how to leverage AI in the workforce; understanding agent AI versus prompt engineering, comparing and evaluating systems such as Claude, Copilot, Codex, Cursor, RAG, and others; planning, context, and feedback looping beyond simple prompt engineering; spec-driven software engineering; staying informed on Agentic AI;

Prerequisite

None