Course: ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers
Source: DeepLearning.AI Course
Instructors: Andrew Ng (DeepLearning.AI) & Isa Fulford (OpenAI)
Why Should Developers Care About Prompt Engineering?
AI is changing how we code, build products, and even debug. If you’re an engineer looking to level up your LLM application game—or just tired of getting inconsistent results from ChatGPT—learning prompt engineering is essential.
This post condenses the comprehensive DeepLearning.AI course into actionable, developer-ready best practices you can apply right away, with real-world coding and product examples.
Table of Contents
Understanding LLM Types
Core Prompting Philosophy
Best Practices Checklist
Iterative Prompt Development
Summarization Techniques
Inferring Insights
Text Transformation
Content Expansion
Building Chatbots
Your Next Steps
Understanding LLM Types
Base LLMs:
Predict next-word sequences; may not follow instructions.
Instruction-tuned LLMs:
Specifically trained to follow instructions. Always prefer these for practical use—think gpt-3.5-turbo, gpt-4, etc.
Core Prompt Engineering Philosophy
Treat LLMs as highly skilled collaborators who lack your context—be explicit, be clear, and always check your instructions.
Best Practices (Checklist for Devs!)
Write clear, specific instructions
Use delimiters (e.g. triple backticks) to separate user content
Request structured output (JSON/HTML)
Instruct the model to check preconditions
Provide examples (few-shot prompting)
Chain-of-thought reasoning for complex tasks
Specify output format/order
Ask for reasoning before answers
Validate critical outputs (watch for hallucinations)
Ask for citations/quotes in summaries
More Developer-Focused Sample Section
Iterative Prompt Development: The Dev Way
Start with a simple prompt.
Analyze the output.
Refine requirements: add structure, word limits, or technical requirements.
Automate testing: For production, validate against real data and edge cases.
Reminder: “Perfect” prompts rarely exist—iteration is success.
Practical Prompts: Real Use Cases
json
// Ask for structured, machine-readable output
{
"sentiment": "positive",
"emotion": "joy",
"main_topic": "product feedback"
}
text
Example: Summarize Product Reviews
Prompt:
Extract the main feature request and overall sentiment from the following review:
Output as JSON.
Your Next Steps as a Developer
Experiment: Try integrating LLMs into your projects.
Document: Keep a log of prompt outcomes (helps rapid improvements).
Iterate: Small tweaks, big results.
Share: Comment with your own prompt hacks below.
Keep Learning: New LLM capabilities land regularly—stay curious.
About This Guide:
Summarized from the DeepLearning.AI course by Andrew Ng and Isa Fulford. Highly recommend taking the course for direct hands-on practice.
Course Link: https://learn.deeplearning.ai/courses/chatgpt-prompt-eng/
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