Conversational Development With Claude Code — Part 2
TL;DR
This is not a beginner course and this is not about typing faster. This is about professional control. Claude Code enables a workflow where analysis, planning, and execution are explicit, deliberate, and verifiable. You write less code, but every line you ship is intentional. If you already understand terminals, Git, REST APIs, relational databases, and client–server architecture, this approach will fundamentally change how you build features.
Who This Technical Course Is For (and Who It Is Not)
This series assumes you are already fluent in the language of real software projects.
You know what a terminal is and you use it daily.
You understand Git beyond git commit -m.
You can read an API endpoint and reason about its contract.
You recognize a database migration when you see one.
You understand the boundary between backend, frontend, and persistence.
If those concepts feel unfamiliar, this content will feel hostile — intentionally so. Claude Code does not replace fundamentals; it amplifies them. Without a mental model of systems, the tool becomes noise instead of leverage.
We work with:
- FastAPI for backend APIs
- Next.js for frontend composition
- PostgreSQL for relational persistence
- Docker for environment consistency
- Playwright for validation and regression testing
- Claude Code as the conversational execution layer
You do not need to be an expert in all of them, but you must recognize their role in the system. This is not about learning tools — it is about learning how to think while using them.
The central idea is simple but uncomfortable:
This is a technical course with relatively little code. The value lives in analysis, design, and verification — not in keystrokes.
The Professional Workflow: Analysis → Planning → Execution
Every feature in this series follows a strict, repeatable flow. This is where most developers fail, and where Claude Code shines.
1. Analysis Before Typing
Before writing a single line, you explore the codebase.
You identify:
- Existing models and their relationships
- Dependency chains across modules
- Data ownership and lifecycle
- Where a change should live — and where it should not
Claude Code excels here because it can reason across multiple files and surface architectural context quickly. But you decide what matters. The tool accelerates understanding; it does not replace it.
Analysis prevents accidental complexity. It is cheaper than refactoring and infinitely cheaper than production incidents.
2. Planning With Intent
Planning is not about writing tickets or diagrams. It is about making decisions explicit.
At this stage, you define:
- Scope boundaries
- Validation criteria
- Failure modes
- Architectural constraints
Claude Code can propose plans, but its real value is conversational friction. When you ask why a change should happen in one place instead of another, the discussion sharpens your own reasoning.
A good plan answers one question clearly:
How will we know this feature is correct, safe, and aligned with the existing system?
3. Execution With Control
Only now do you write code.
Execution is not a sprint. It is a controlled sequence:
- Apply a change
- Validate architecture alignment
- Run tests
- Check performance implications
- Review security considerations
Claude Code generates code quickly, but speed is not the point. Every diff is reviewed. Every suggestion is evaluated. Automation without judgment is how systems decay.
Analyzing a Codebase Without Getting Lost
Large codebases fail developers not because they are complex, but because they are opaque.
Claude Code changes this dynamic by enabling multi-file reasoning, but the technique matters more than the tool.
Effective analysis means:
- Identifying core domain models
- Tracing how data flows across layers
- Mapping dependencies and side effects
- Understanding which modules are stable and which are volatile
Referencing files explicitly and following dependency chains prevents blind edits. You stop guessing and start navigating.
This is how you avoid breaking unrelated features while shipping new ones.
Execution Quality: Validation, Testing, and Security
Shipping code is not the finish line. Validation is.
Every meaningful change should answer three questions:
- Does it respect the existing architecture?
- Does it behave correctly before and after the change?
- Does it introduce new security risks?
Claude Code integrates naturally with validation workflows:
- Running tests
- Reviewing diffs
- Performing security checks
The mindset shift is critical: testing is not a phase, it is a conversation partner.
Claude Code, Agents, and Thinking Deeply
Claude Code operates as more than a code generator. It is a collaborator with different modes of depth.
Agents allow focused reasoning:
- Architectural analysis
- Design exploration
- Validation strategies
The Think Deeply approach is where real learning happens. Instead of asking for code, you explore alternatives, trade-offs, and long-term consequences.
Complexity becomes manageable when it is articulated.
Your Responsibility: Evaluating Generated Code
Claude Code accelerates execution. It does not absolve responsibility.
Every generated change must be evaluated for:
- Architectural alignment
- Performance characteristics
- Maintainability over time
The final decision is always yours.
This is the core lesson of conversational development:
The AI can write the code. Only you can own the consequences.
By repeating the cycle — analysis, planning, execution — you build a workflow that scales beyond any single tool.
Final Thoughts
This is not about using Claude Code.
This is about thinking like a professional engineer in an AI-augmented world.
Less code. More intent.
More clarity. Less noise.
If you are ready to work this way, you are ready for the next part of the series.
In the comments: Which fundamentals do you already master, and which ones do you want to sharpen using Claude Code?
— Written by Cristian Sifuentes
Senior Software Engineer · Conversational Development Advocate
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