AI Prompts for Coding & Programming

Explain this code so I can understand and modify it.

[Paste the code block]

Language: [language if not obvious]
My skill level: [beginner / intermediate / advanced]
What I need to do with it: [modify, extend, debug, or just understand]

Provide:
1. A plain-English summary of what this code does (2-3 sentences)
2. A line-by-line or block-by-block walkthrough with annotations
3. Any design patterns or idioms being used (and why)
4. Potential bugs, edge cases, or gotchas in this code
5. How I would modify it to [describe intended change]
6. Three things I should understand about this code before touching it

Help me find and fix this bug.

Code:
[Paste the relevant code]

Error message: [paste the exact error or describe unexpected behavior]
Expected behavior: [what should happen]
Actual behavior: [what actually happens]
What I've already tried: [any debugging steps taken]
Environment: [language version, OS, framework versions]

Provide:
1. Root cause analysis: what's actually causing this error
2. The specific fix with corrected code
3. Why this fix works (explain the underlying issue)
4. How to prevent this type of bug in the future
5. Related bugs that often accompany this one (check for those too)
6. A test case to verify the fix and catch regressions

Review and refactor this code for better quality.

[Paste the code to refactor]

Language: [language]
Framework: [if applicable]
Primary concern: [readability / performance / maintainability / all of the above]
Constraints: [backward compatibility, team style guide, performance requirements]
What this code does: [brief description]

Provide:
1. A code quality assessment: what's good and what needs work
2. The refactored code with improvements applied
3. A change-by-change explanation of every modification and its benefit
4. Performance implications of the refactoring (better, same, or trade-offs)
5. Any patterns or abstractions that would make this code more maintainable
6. A checklist to verify the refactored code behaves identically to the original

Help me solve this algorithm problem.

Problem: [paste or describe the problem]
Language preference: [language you want the solution in]
Context: [interview prep / competitive programming / real project / learning]
Constraints: [time complexity requirements, space limits, input size]
What I've tried: [any approaches you've attempted]

Provide:
1. Problem breakdown: identify the type of problem and applicable techniques
2. A brute force solution first (with time/space complexity)
3. An optimized solution with explanation of the optimization strategy
4. Step-by-step dry run with a small example input
5. Edge cases to handle and test against
6. Similar problems to practice to reinforce this pattern

Help me integrate with this API.

API: [name of the service/API]
What I need to do: [specific operations: fetch data, send data, authenticate, etc.]
My stack: [language, framework, existing dependencies]
Auth type: [API key / OAuth / JWT / other]
API docs: [paste relevant endpoints or link]
Error handling needs: [retry logic, rate limiting, fallback behavior]

Provide:
1. Complete working code for the integration with all imports
2. Authentication setup with secure credential handling
3. Request/response type definitions or interfaces
4. Error handling for common API failure modes (rate limits, timeouts, 4xx/5xx)
5. A retry strategy with exponential backoff
6. A simple test to verify the integration works before deploying

Help me get productive in a new programming language quickly.

New language: [the language you want to learn]
Languages I already know: [your current languages]
Goal: [build a specific project / switch jobs / expand skills]
Learning style: [build projects / read docs / solve problems]
Timeline: [how quickly you need to be productive]
Specific area: [web, mobile, systems, data, ML, etc.]

Create:
1. A concept mapping guide: 'In [known language], you do X. In [new language], you do Y'
2. The 20% of syntax that covers 80% of daily coding
3. A 'first weekend' project that teaches core language features hands-on
4. Common gotchas and mistakes developers from [known language] make
5. The ecosystem guide: package manager, testing framework, linter, formatter
6. Five resources (free) ordered from 'start here' to 'go deeper'