The AI-Assisted Coding Wall

Learn to work with AI coding agents — tools that are transforming how professionals write and debug code.

The Routes

This wall follows a clear progression: Setup → Read → Write

38A: Getting Started — Install Claude Code, learn prompt patterns, practice iteration

38B: Reading — Navigate codebases, find information, extract data from files

38C: Writing — Create code from descriptions, modify existing code, fix bugs

Why This Wall Matters

AI coding agents are now standard tools in professional software development and data science. Learning to work with them effectively will make you dramatically more productive — and these skills transfer to any technical career.

Real-world application: In Routes 37A/37B (protein-protein interactions), you download messy AlphaFold3 outputs with dozens of files per job. Instead of manually hunting for the right JSON files, you can ask the agent to find and extract what you need in seconds. That's the power of these tools.

Prerequisites

• Basic Python familiarity (variables, loops, functions)
• A computer where you can install software (Mac, Windows, or Linux)
• Claude Pro subscription ($20/month) for Claude Code — or use free alternatives like Cursor or Aider

The Core Skills

1. Prompting — How to ask good questions and give useful context
2. Iteration — How to refine requests when the first attempt isn't right
3. Review — How to verify the agent's work (trust but verify)
4. Direction — How to break complex tasks into steps the agent can handle