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You Need To Understand This

Make working software with AI, responsibly

Building Things

AI can write code faster than you can read it, which makes building things easier and making a mess of them easier too. This module is for the person who wants to actually make working software without pretending to be a programmer and without running things they do not understand. It covers what a system is made of, how to build and run something small, how to read code you did not write, how to find out why something broke, how to stop losing work, and what changes the moment your thing has a public address.

6 lessons2 hr

Easier if you have done: Working With AI, Digital Foundation

Lessons

  1. 01

    What software is actually made of

    Frontend, backend, database, API and hosting explained by what each one is responsible for, traced through a single booking form.

    You keep: Can say which part of a system is responsible for a given problem, instead of calling the whole thing "the website".

    20 min
  2. 02

    Your first actually working thing

    Build one small real program with AI help, run it, change it, break it on purpose, and fix it.

    You keep: Can go from an idea to a running program with AI help, and refuses to run code they have not read.

    22 min
  3. 03

    Reading code you did not write

    Follow what a program does without knowing the language deeply, and spot the lines that should worry you.

    You keep: Can trace inputs, outputs and the main path through unfamiliar code, and recognise the patterns that are dangerous.

    20 min
  4. 04

    When it breaks

    A repeatable method for finding out why something does not work, instead of changing things until it does.

    You keep: Can reproduce a bug, read the error, narrow down where it fails, and fix it without guessing.

    20 min
  5. 05

    Git and not losing your work

    Version control for someone who has never used it — commits, history, branches, undoing a disaster, and why a leaked password stays leaked.

    You keep: Can save work in a way that lets them see what changed, go back to any earlier state, and never lose a day again.

    20 min
  6. 06

    Putting it on the internet

    What hosting and domains actually are, how to publish something for free, and what changes the moment it is public.

    You keep: Can publish a working thing at a real address, and knows what new responsibilities that creates.

    18 min