The Markdown Prompt Toolkit
A visual cheatsheet showing how Markdown formatting signals intent to AI. Structure is not decoration—it is instruction.
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Using Claude to audit your CLAUDE.md files
A meta workflow: ask Claude Code to optimize the very configuration files that guide its behavior. Here's what I learned about the 200-line limit.
Read more →Writing and optimizing custom Claude Code slash commands
How I built a fast Netlify status checker, from slow CLI wrapper to optimized Bun script with direct API access.
Read more →Speed up Claude Code with modern CLI tools
Install bun, ripgrep, fd, sd, jq, and GNU parallel to dramatically speed up Claude Code's shell operations
Read more →Claude Code: /compact with targeted instructions
Speed up the /compact command by telling Claude what to keep and drop, cutting compression time from minutes to seconds.
Read more →The 37 MB of Code You Didn't Write
You ran npm install and got hundreds of packages. Do you trust all of them? Your project depends on code written by strangers—and that code can have security holes.
Read more →Why I Teach Security in a JavaScript Class
The case for embedding security fundamentals into every coding course—because professional development means more than syntax.
Read more →Why Secrets Don't Belong in Code
You just signed up for an API. Where do you put the key? If your first instinct is 'paste it in my JavaScript file,' here's why that's a problem.
Read more →What 'JavaScript Developer' Actually Means in 2026
The eight-step workflow of a typical dev day, and why only one of those steps is 'writing JavaScript.'
Read more →Git Commit Habits That Will Serve Your Career
Every submission had a single commit. The work was good, but this habit is worth changing early. Here's why incremental commits matter.
Read more →How I Use AI to Grade More Fairly (And Why I Tell My Students)
A transparent look at using AI for assignment evaluation—addressing 'grader drift,' maintaining consistency, and modeling responsible AI practices for students.
Read more →Tools First: What 50 Years of Coding Taught Me About Teaching
After five decades in software, I've watched one pattern hold true across every technological shift: developers who invest in their tools consistently outperform those who don't.
Read more →The Debugging Duck: Why I Mail Rubber Ducks to My Students
Rubber duck debugging sounds silly until you try it. Here's why I send physical ducks to my students—and what it teaches about learning, asking questions, and psychological safety.
Read more →What .gitignore Actually Does
Every project has files that shouldn't be shared—secrets, generated files, dependencies. The .gitignore file tells Git which files to ignore.
Read more →Writing Markdown That AI Actually Understands
Markdown files serve a dual purpose: human-readable documentation AND machine-parseable instructions. Here's how AI reads your files differently than you do.
Read more →Why Markdown Won
If you've read a README on GitHub, you've seen markdown. Here's why this 2004 invention became the standard for developer documentation—and why AI tools use it too.
Read more →Free AI Tools Every Student Developer Should Know About
AI-powered development tools have become standard in professional workflows. As a student, you have access to many for free—here's what's worth knowing.
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