Whether it’s asking ChatGPT to refactor some code, or working alongside a dedicated coding assistant like GitHub Copilot, the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) are increasingly useful for software engineers. These tools can already help developers write, document, troubleshoot, and optimize their code, but only if you prompt them correctly.
We aren’t just talking about students and entry-level engineers tinkering with their side projects, either. Speaking at GitHub’s Universe conference last year, head of engineering at Shopify, Farhan Thawar, claimed that the company had already deployed almost a million lines of AI-written code.
Whether you’re using these tools professionally or not, it’s a good idea to learn how to write better AI prompts – known as prompt engineering – to make the most of LLM-based coding tools.
