Phase 1: The Workbench
Chapters 42–46: Read & Explore
Your role: Reader: "I can understand what AI generates"
Before you can specify, you must be able to read. Phase 1 begins with the PRIMM-AI+ learning framework, the method you will use throughout every lesson in Parts 4 and 6. It then presents the Ten Axioms of AI-Driven Development, installs your development tools (a package manager, a type checker, a code formatter, a test runner, and Git, each explained when you first use it), introduces SmartNotes, and teaches you to read Python from scratch using the Predict-Run-Investigate method. You finish by performing your first code review on a real SmartNotes module and running your first TDG cycle: define a requirement, write a test, prompt AI to implement, verify it passes.
| # | Chapter | Key Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 42 | The PRIMM-AI+ Framework | How you will learn: PRIMM-AI+ with AI-free checkpoints, mastery gates, and a verification ladder |
| 43 | Ten Axioms of AI-Driven Development | The principles that guide every phase |
| 44 | The Development Environment | Installing and configuring your tools |
| 45 | Reading Python | Reading code fluently with Predict-Run-Investigate |
| 46 | Your First TDG Cycle | Define, test, generate, verify: the complete loop |
Phase 1 Complete: What You Can Do Now
By finishing Phase 1, you have built the foundation for everything that follows:
- A learning method (Ch 42): PRIMM-AI+ gives you a structured way to learn from any code, with AI as a partner rather than a crutch. You know how to predict, run, investigate, modify, and make.
- A set of principles (Ch 43): The ten axioms define how professional software is built in the AI era. Every tool you installed and every practice you learn from here connects back to these principles.
- A working environment (Ch 44): Your SmartNotes project has uv, pyright, ruff, pytest, and Git configured and verified. The discipline stack is ready.
- The ability to read code (Ch 45): You can trace variables, predict output, review real code, and read tests. This is the verification skill that makes everything else trustworthy.
- Your first TDG cycle (Ch 46): You wrote a specification, watched AI generate an implementation, verified it with tests, and iterated when it failed. This loop is the workflow for the rest of the book.
In Phase 2, you move from reading to specifying. You will learn Python's type system in depth, write test suites that serve as specifications, and build features for SmartNotes using the TDG loop you practiced here.