Fundamentals for AI-First Developers
The engineering principles behind great vibe coding
You learned to code WITH AI. Now understand WHY the patterns work.
Instant access • All 10 modules • No credit card required
Built from Steve Yegge and Geoffrey Huntley's patterns
You Code With AI. But Do You Understand WHY It Works?
You've shipped real projects using Claude, GPT, or Copilot. You've built features you never could have built alone. The AI suggests patterns and you use them.
But when someone asks "why did you structure it that way?"... you're not sure how to explain it.
Intuition
You have
From trial and error
Vocabulary
You need
To communicate with anyone
Mental Models
You'll gain
To reason about complex systems
This course gives you the engineering fundamentals that traditional CS grads spent 4 years learning - distilled into what actually matters for AI-first development.
You'll finally understand the "why" behind patterns you've been using intuitively.
What You'll Learn
Mental Models That Make You Dangerous
How code actually executes. State vs stateless (the "50 First Dates" problem). Why some patterns scale and others explode. The fundamentals that never change.
Engineering Vocabulary
Speak the language of senior engineers. Idempotent, deterministic, race condition, technical debt - know exactly what these mean and when to use them.
Debugging Like a 20-Year Veteran
The scientific method for code. Binary search debugging. The rubber duck method. Tracer bullets for when you're stuck. Techniques that work with or without AI.
Production Thinking
Dev vs staging vs production. Observability (logs, metrics, traces). The deployment checklist. What changes when real users hit your code.
Course Structure
Core Mental Models
Code is text that executes. The execution stack. State vs stateless (the "50 First Dates" problem). The call graph and dependencies.
How Code Actually Runs
Synchronous vs asynchronous. The event loop. Compilation vs interpretation. Why some code "blocks" and other code doesn't.
Memory and State
The heap and stack. Databases vs files vs memory. Transactions and ACID. Where to store what, and why it matters.
The Cost Model
Time complexity (Big O). Space complexity. Network I/O (the slow path). The N+1 query problem that kills performance.
Testing Philosophy
The test pyramid. TDD (Test-Driven Development). Types of tests: unit, integration, E2E. Mocks, stubs, and fakes.
Architecture Patterns
Separation of concerns. MVC (Model-View-Controller). API design (REST). The repository pattern. Why these patterns exist.
The Development Lifecycle
Version control (Git fundamentals). The commit: good vs bad. Branches and merging. CI/CD pipelines. Semantic versioning.
Engineering Vocabulary
Common terms (deterministic, idempotent, race condition, technical debt). Architecture terms (monolith, microservices, serverless). Data terms (schema, migration, index, join).
Debugging Like a Pro
The scientific method (fireplace debugging). Binary search debugging (git bisect). The rubber duck method. Tracer bullets for when you're stuck.
Production vs Development
Environments (dev, staging, prod). Observability (logs, metrics, traces). The deployment checklist. What changes when real users hit your code.
BONUS: 10 Fundamental Truths
The timeless principles: Code is text, computers are dumb. State is the root of complexity. Abstractions leak. No silver bullets. Make it work, make it right, make it fast.
Written for AI-First Developers
AI-First Insights
Every concept includes an "AI-first insight" - connecting traditional engineering knowledge to how you actually work with Claude, GPT, or Copilot.
Validates Your Intuition
You probably discovered many patterns intuitively. This course formalizes what you already know and gives you the vocabulary to discuss it.
Real Code Examples
Not abstract theory - concrete code examples in JavaScript/TypeScript that demonstrate each concept clearly.
No Fluff, No Filler
Distilled from Steve Yegge and Geoffrey Huntley's patterns. Only what matters for AI-assisted development. ~2.5 hours total.
Want the Complete System?
Get every guide, template, and system I use to ship at 5x velocity. 200K+ words of battle-tested documentation in one download.
15+
Comprehensive Guides
200K+
Words of Documentation
Instant
Download Access
Includes: MCP Development Guide, Context Management, LLM Psychology, Database Design, Security Guide, Documentation Organization (89K words!), and more.
Get Complete AI Development System - $197Is This For You?
This Is For You If:
- •You learned to code with AI assistance (Claude, GPT, Copilot)
- •You want to understand WHY patterns work, not just use them
- •You want to communicate confidently with traditional developers
- •You're building real projects and hitting walls you can't explain
- •You prefer text-based learning you can read at your own pace
This Is NOT For You If:
- •You want a coding tutorial (this is WHY, not HOW to code)
- •You're already a senior engineer with CS fundamentals
- •You've never written any code (start with basics first)
- •You need video hand-holding (this is text-first)
- •You're looking for language-specific tutorials
Ready to Level Up Your Engineering Foundation?
Get instant access to all 10 modules, 37 lessons, and the 10 Fundamental Truths bonus. Understand the WHY behind the patterns you use every day.
No credit card required • Instant access • All modules
Built from Steve Yegge and Geoffrey Huntley's patterns
Course hosted on custom platform • Join hundreds of AI-first developers
Ready for the Next Level?
Once you've mastered the fundamentals, learn to orchestrate 18+ AI instances simultaneously. Go from single-Claude user to multi-instance orchestrator.
Explore The AI Orchestra Method ($97)Course content synthesized from engineering patterns by Steve Yegge and Geoffrey Huntley. Adapted for AI-first developers by Travis Eric.