Eric Furst d2ca02bd90 Reframe from three modes to two worlds

Restructures section 01 from "web chat / in-editor / agentic" into "web
chat vs. tools that live with your code," with the autocomplete /
in-project chat / agentic spectrum as a sub-structure of the latter.
Inline edits are reduced to a historical note tied to the 2023
instruction-tuned LLM era.

- Rename 01-three-modes -> 01-two-worlds and 03-in-editor-workflow ->
  03-autocomplete; section 03 narrows to autocomplete (ghost text habits,
  the autocomplete-your-verification trap)
- Section 04 reframes in-project chat as the default venue, web chat as
  a special-case venue; adds "Carrying context across sessions" covering
  dev-log.md, CLAUDE.md, .cursorrules
- Section 05 reworks intro to contrast against in-project chat instead
  of "editor extension"; tightens prose and removes em-dashes
- Update cross-references and tool-mode language in 02, 06, 07, and
  the root README to match the new framing
- Swap the CRDT example in section 04 for finite-volume methods, fitting
  the CHEG audience
- Minor typo/wording fixes

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

2026-05-28 23:01:09 -04:00

3.8 KiB

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Coding with AI

A practical guide to working effectively with AI coding assistants — web chat interfaces (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot), in-project chat panels and CLIs (Claude Code, Cursor), autocomplete, and agentic tools. Our focus is on workflow and judgment: when to reach for which tool, what to paste, how to prompt, how to verify, and what to cite.

AI tools change quickly, but the patterns change slowly. This guide aims at the patterns and uses current tools as examples.

A note on scope. This guide is about coding — writing, editing, refactoring, and debugging software. Students and engineers also use AI tools heavily for learning tasks: explaining concepts, summarizing literature, generating practice problems, study quizzes, mnemonics, working through homework, finding the right vocabulary for a half-remembered idea. The web-chat-vs-in-project framing here applies broadly, but the tools, examples, and tradeoffs for learning use cases are different enough to deserve their own guide.

Sections

#	Topic	Description
01	Two worlds	Web chat versus tools that live with your code. Why the second is where coding work belongs, and the autocomplete/chat/agent spectrum within it.
02	Errors and logs	The canonical copy-paste case. How to frame what you paste so the assistant can actually help.
03	Autocomplete	Ghost-text suggestions as you type. What it's good for, the traps (especially in verification code), and when to escalate.
04	Conversations	Multi-turn design discussions in the in-project chat or a web chat, managing context, and when to start a fresh chat.
05	Agentic workflow	What agentic tools (Claude Code, Cursor agent, Microsoft Copilot agent mode) actually do, and how to supervise them.
06	Verifying and citing	Reviewing AI output for hallucinations and silent errors. Privacy and IP of what you paste. Attribution in academic and professional work.
07	Using local models	Local models as a cross-cutting alternative — privacy, cost, offline operation. Which tools support local across the autocomplete/chat/agent spectrum, and where the capability gap to cloud still matters.

Who this is for

Students and practicing engineers who are already using AI assistants but want to use them more deliberately — including those whose default workflow is "ask ChatGPT, copy the answer back." There is nothing wrong with copy-paste, but our goal is to know when it is the right tool and when to use something else.

Prerequisites

A working development setup (editor, terminal, version control). See computing-setup and cli-walkthrough for the underlying skills.
Access to at least one AI tool. The examples use Claude and ChatGPT in web chat form, Claude Code or Cursor as in-project chat / agentic tools, and GitHub Copilot / Codeium / Microsoft Copilot interchangeably for autocomplete. University-provided access (e.g., Microsoft Copilot or Gemini through institutional agreements) works equally well for nearly everything covered here.

A note on tools and dates

Tool capabilities, pricing, and policies change frequently. Where this guide names a specific feature ("Cursor's agent mode," "Claude Code"), the description reflects what those tools did as of the first half of 2026. The underlying patterns — web chat versus tools that live with your code, and the autocomplete/chat/agent spectrum within the latter — are durable. Treat any tool-specific advice as illustrative.

License

MIT

Author

Eric M. Furst, University of Delaware

3.8 KiB Raw Blame History