Co-Programming in Python with GenAI

Course Outcomes

• Understand how to use LLMs in your development work, with a back-and-forth conversation
• Find out how to use LLMs to expand your knowledge of Python
• Understand the limitations of LLMs, and the need to read and check the output it produces

Tools like ChatGPT, ClaudeAI, and GitHub Copilot are exciting and useful tools that are revolutionizing how we write software. If we approach them correctly we can learn new programming skills as well as learning how to write code faster.

One of the best ways to use LLMs now is as a virtual pair-programming partner. In this class, we’ll see how we can use ChatGPT and ClaudeAI to write code for us, to check our own code, to write tests, explain code, and even to optimize our results.We’ll discuss the limitations of LLMs, and where we need to apply our own programming knowledge and expertise. We’ll also discover how seeing an LLM as a partner allows us to learn about new libraries and techniques.

Over the course of the class, we’ll write a small Python application along with ChatGPT. This command-line application will use command-line arguments, functions, and the remote API for OpenWeatherMap. We’ll see where ChatGPT can help, where we need to step in when things go wrong, and how cooperating with ChatGPT leads to quick, effective coding results.