Great planning and initial setup are crucial for a successful project. Having an idea and immediately cracking open an IDE is rarely a good approach. Many developers find the planning process boring and tiresome. Generative AI tools make these tasks more efficient, accurate, and enjoyable. If you don’t like planning and setup, they can make the process smoother and faster. If you enjoy planning, you may find these tools make it even more fun. Modern AI assistants such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and Tabnine can change how you handle everything from project architecture to complex functions.
These tools have evolved to understand software projects well. They can streamline your planning process, helping you with checklists and reminding you of tasks you may otherwise have forgotten about. They assist by suggesting good design patterns and maintaining best practices. When used the right way, these tools can help you build scalable robust systems faster. They can generate project scaffolding, suggest optimal file structures, create stub methods that follow design principles, and help debug tricky problems. However, knowing how to prompt these tools effectively matters. You need to know when to trust their suggestions and when to rely on your own judgment. The next few chapters will help you understand how to create that balance.