Building with Claude Code — A Developer's Guide
Master Claude Code as your AI pair programmer. 13 lessons covering code generation, TDD, refactoring, ASP.NET APIs, EF Core, debugging, git, CLAUDE.md, hooks, and MCP servers — all with .NET 9.
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About This Course
Learn to accelerate your C#/.NET development workflow using Claude Code as an AI pair programmer. This progressive course takes you from first prompts to building MCP servers, covering codebase exploration, test-driven development, refactoring, ASP.NET Web APIs, EF Core, debugging, git workflows, CLAUDE.md project memory, hooks, and custom workflows. Every lesson reinforces professional software development best practices clean code, SOLID principles, TDD, and git hygiene amplified by AI. The capstone project challenges you to build a complete full-stack application using Claude Code throughout.
Course Curriculum
28 Lessons
Your AI Pair Programmer
What Claude Code is, launching from the terminal, first conversation, prompts vs commands, the permission system, and the mental model for AI pair programming.
Your AI Pair Programmer - Lab Exercises
First conversation with Claude Code, exploring slash commands, practicing the prompt-review-iterate cycle.
Exploring Code Like a Pro
Using Claude Code to navigate unfamiliar codebases, asking architectural questions, tracing execution flows, and understanding how Claude Code searches.
Exploring Code Like a Pro - Lab Exercises
Codebase archaeology and targeted investigation using Claude Code to explore a pre-loaded e-commerce API.
From English to C#
Writing effective prompts for code generation — specificity, context, iterating on output, generating classes, records, interfaces, and enums.
From English to C# - Lab Exercises
Building a domain model and prompt engineering challenge using Claude Code to generate C# code from requirements.
Test-First Development
Using Claude Code for TDD — writing xUnit tests first, driving implementation, red-green-refactor cycle, edge case discovery.
Test-First Development - Lab Exercises
String Calculator kata and Shopping Cart TDD using Claude Code to write tests first, then implement.
Refactoring with Confidence
Identifying code smells, extract method/class, applying SOLID principles, safe refactoring with tests, knowing when NOT to refactor.
Refactoring with Confidence - Lab Exercises
Code smell hunt and SOLID makeover using Claude Code to identify and fix code quality issues.
Building an ASP.NET Web API
Scaffolding a REST API with Claude Code — controllers, services, DTOs, dependency injection, middleware, Swagger/OpenAPI.
Building an ASP.NET Web API - Lab Exercises
Build a Book Library API and extend it with relationships, middleware, and validation — all driven through Claude Code.
Data Access with EF Core
Generating EF Core models, DbContext, migrations, repository pattern, relationships, seed data — all through Claude Code conversation.
Data Access with EF Core - Lab Exercises
Add EF Core persistence to the Book Library API, configure relationships, implement advanced queries with Claude Code.
Debugging & Troubleshooting
Using Claude Code as a debugging partner — pasting errors, diagnosing common .NET issues, adding logging and diagnostics.
Debugging & Troubleshooting - Lab Exercises
Bug hunt through 5 intentional bugs and adding observability to a working API using Claude Code.
Git Workflows & Pull Requests
Committing with Claude Code, writing meaningful commit messages, reviewing diffs, branch management, creating pull requests.
Git Workflows & Pull Requests - Lab Exercises
Commit workflow practice and branch/PR creation using Claude Code for meaningful git history.
Project Memory with CLAUDE.md
Writing effective CLAUDE.md files — coding conventions, architecture rules, forbidden patterns, layered configuration, evolving project memory.
Project Memory with CLAUDE.md - Lab Exercises
Writing your first CLAUDE.md and testing rules in action — verifying Claude Code follows project conventions.
Hooks & Custom Workflows
Pre/post tool hooks, automated linting and formatting, permission presets, environment variables, team workflow customization.
Hooks & Custom Workflows - Lab Exercises
Setting up hooks for auto-formatting and auto-testing, configuring permission presets, building team workflows.
Extending with MCP Servers
What MCP is, connecting to external tools, using community MCP servers, building a simple MCP server in C#, security considerations.
Extending with MCP Servers - Lab Exercises
Connect to a PostgreSQL MCP server using .mcp.json project-level config and build your own MCP server in C# that Claude Code can call, with HTTP transport discussion.
Capstone Briefing — Task Management API
Review all course concepts and understand the capstone project requirements — building a complete Task Management API.
Capstone: Task Management API
Build a complete Task Management API with ASP.NET, EF Core, xUnit tests, CLAUDE.md, and clean git history — using Claude Code as your pair programmer throughout.
Claude Code in Automation
Non-interactive mode, scripting with --print and --headless, extended thinking, Agent SDK vs Claude Code CLI, cost management and model selection strategies.
Claude Code in Automation - Lab Exercises
Hands-on practice running Claude Code in non-interactive mode, scripting automation workflows, and wiring up a GitHub Actions CI pipeline with Claude-powered code review.
This course includes:
- 24/7 AI Instructor Support
- Live Lab Environments
- 14 Hands-on Lessons
- Completion Badge
Earn Your Badge
Complete all lessons to unlock the Claude Code Developer achievement badge.
Claude Code Developer
Awarded for completing Building with Claude Code — A Developer's Guide. Demonstrates day-to-day fluency with Claude Code — agentic file/code operations, project conventions (CLAUDE.md), tool permissions, sub-agents, skills, hooks, slash commands, and prompt-engineering patterns for software engineering tasks.
Skills You'll Earn
Complete all lessons in this course to earn this badge