Phase 0: See the Matrix
Goal: Nothing about AI or software feels alien anymore. You can’t build yet, but nothing scares you. Every term you’ll encounter later has been defanged.
What You Can DO After This Phase
Section titled “What You Can DO After This Phase”- Explain what AI is and isn’t to a friend without using jargon
- Name every tool in the builder’s environment and say what it does
- Draw the AI stack on a napkin
- Read a list of technical terms without flinching
Sections
Section titled “Sections”| Section | Topic |
|---|---|
| 0.1 — The Landscape | What AI is, what LLMs are, why this moment is different |
| 0.2 — The Environment | Terminal, IDE, Git, GitHub, file types |
| 0.3 — How Software Works | Frontend, backend, APIs, databases |
| 0.4 — The AI Stack | You, harness, context, model, provider |
| 0.5 — Vocabulary | ~15 terms every builder must know |
Next phase: Phase 1 — First Build