AI CODING TOOLS / LESSON 01

What is Claude Code?

Introduction to AI-assisted development

Written by Andrew Lee JenkinsPublished Oct 5, 202610 min readFree lesson

Picture an expert programmer sitting right next to you, ready to jump in whenever you get stuck. That's Claude Code. It's an AI assistant that lives in your terminal, and it can write code, fix bugs and build whole applications WITH you.

An AI That Writes Code For You

Claude Code is made by Anthropic, the same company behind Claude (the AI you might've already chatted with online). The difference is that Claude Code was built specifically to help you make software.

So on top of answering questions, Claude Code can actually do stuff.

Write new code from scratch based on what you describe
Read your existing code and figure out how it works
Fix bugs by tracking down what's wrong and correcting it
Explain code in plain terms so you can learn as you go
Run commands in your terminal to test things

Like Having an Expert Partner

Think about learning to cook. You could sit alone with a recipe book, or you could have a real chef standing next to you who answers your questions and catches your mistakes before they wreck dinner.

Claude Code is that chef, just for programming.

It knows dozens of programming languages
It understands best practices
It can see your whole project at once
It explains its thinking so you learn along the way

And the best part? It never gets tired, it never judges you for asking a "basic" question, and it's patient every single time (more patient than me, honestly).

What Can You Build With Claude Code?

Here's what you can make with Claude Code's help.

Step 1. Websites and Web Apps

Anything from a simple personal site to a big complicated web application. Claude Code can write HTML, CSS, JavaScript and more.

Step 2. Automation Scripts

Little programs that handle the boring repetitive stuff for you, like a script that organizes your files or sends emails automatically.

Step 3. Fix Broken Code

When something isn't working, Claude Code can look at the code, find the problem and fix it. Think of it as a detective for software bugs.

Step 4. Learn by Doing

Ask Claude Code to explain any code you don't understand. It'll break a complicated program down into bite-size pieces.

I'm living proof this works, by the way. I've put 1,200+ hours and more than $2,000 in AI tokens into Claude Code building all four Seedly products. I'm an operator, not a developer, so if I can do it you can too.

How Is This Different From ChatGPT?

You may have used other AI tools that can write code. Here's what makes Claude Code different.

Feature	Regular AI Chat	Claude Code
Can see your files	No	Yes
Can edit your files	No	Yes
Can run commands	No	Yes
Understands your whole project	No	Yes
Works in your terminal	No	Yes

A regular chat window hands you code and leaves the rest to you. Claude Code works INSIDE your project, reading files, making changes and testing things itself. That's a big deal.

A Quick Example

Here's what using Claude Code looks like. You type a message, and it answers with code.

You say. "Create a simple webpage that says Hello World with a blue background"

Claude Code does this.

Creates a new HTML file
Writes the code for the webpage
Adds styling to make the background blue
Shows you what it created

All of that happens in seconds. You didn't have to know a lick of HTML or CSS... you just described what you wanted.

TL;DR

Claude Code is an AI assistant that writes, reads and fixes code for you
It works right in your terminal and can see your actual files
You don't need any programming experience, just describe what you want in plain English
It's like having a patient, knowledgeable programming partner on call anytime

What's Next?

Now that you know what Claude Code is, let's get it installed on your computer. Next lesson you'll set up everything you need to start using it.

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