For Real AcademyThree ways people approach it
- AI only: describe what you want and accept what the assistant writes.
- Fundamentals, then AI: learn the basics, then use an assistant to move faster.
- Fundamentals only: write everything yourself.
| AI only | Fundamentals + AI | Fundamentals only | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First prototype | Very fast | Fast once you have the basics | Slowest |
| When something breaks | Hard. You can't read the code you're asked to fix | You can find and understand the problem | You can find it, though it may take longer |
| Judging the output | Little ability to tell good from bad code | Can review diffs and spot problems | Strong |
| Security and quality | Easy to ship mistakes without noticing | Aware of common risks and able to check | Aware, but limited by your own speed |
| Long-term flexibility | Depends on the tool continuing to work for you | High; you can switch tools freely | High |
| Best for | Throwaway experiments | Most people building things that matter | Learning exercises |
What AI changes, and what it doesn't
AI reduces the typing. It doesn't remove the need to understand what you're building. Someone still has to decide what to build, break it into steps, test it, spot where the generated code is wrong or unsafe, and run it in production. Those are exactly the skills you learn through fundamentals.
What to learn first
- How the web works: HTML, CSS, JavaScript and what the browser does with them.
- Version control: Git, so you can undo an assistant's bad idea.
- Reading code: following a diff and asking "does this do what I meant?"
- Testing and debugging: because generated code needs both.
Our take: learn enough fundamentals to review what the assistant writes, then use the assistant freely. The aim is to stay in charge of the code, not to type every character of it.
Disclosure: For Real Academy sells self-paced online courses, so we have an interest in this topic. We've tried to describe each option fairly, and we avoid statistics we can't source. Check any provider's current terms, pricing and claims yourself before you decide.
The path we teach
Start with Launch Your First Website, then Build Web Apps with AI Coding Assistants, where you pair with an assistant while learning to review, test and fix its output.
See the course