AI Development

The AI Coding Toolkit

Modern development isn't about choosing one AI tool—it's about orchestrating multiple assistants for different tasks. Each tool has strengths that complement the others.

Claude Code

Anthropic's CLI-based coding agent. Excels at complex reasoning, architectural decisions, multi-file refactoring, and understanding entire codebases. Best for deep work sessions requiring careful analysis.

Reasoning Architecture Refactoring

GitHub Copilot

The original AI pair programmer. Unmatched for inline completions, boilerplate generation, and understanding coding patterns from context. Integrates seamlessly with your workflow.

Completions Boilerplate Context-Aware

Aider

Git-aware AI coding assistant. Automatically commits changes with meaningful messages. Excellent for pair programming sessions where you want a complete git history of AI-assisted changes.

Git Integration Auto-Commit Multi-File

When to Use What

Task	Best Tool	Why
Quick inline completions	Copilot	Fastest, minimal context switching
Complex refactoring	Claude Code	Deep reasoning about architecture
Multi-file feature implementation	Claude Code	Agentic multi-file changes with reasoning
Legacy code migration	Claude Code	Understanding entire codebases
Pair programming with git history	Aider	Automatic meaningful commits
Writing tests	Copilot + Claude	Copilot for boilerplate, Claude for edge cases
Code review	Claude Code	Thorough analysis, security review

VS Code Insiders Setup

Pro Tip

Use VS Code Insiders for the latest AI features. Many extensions release updates to Insiders first, giving you early access to improved integrations.

                    setup-ai-dev.sh
                    bash
                

# Install VS Code Insiders
# macOS
brew install --cask visual-studio-code-insiders

# Ubuntu/Debian
wget -qO- https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > packages.microsoft.gpg
sudo install -D -o root -g root -m 644 packages.microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg
echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg] \
  https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install code-insiders

# Install AI extensions
code-insiders --install-extension GitHub.copilot
code-insiders --install-extension GitHub.copilot-chat
code-insiders --install-extension saoudrizwan.claude-dev
code-insiders --install-extension continue.continue

# Install Claude Code CLI
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

# Install Aider
pip install aider-chat

# Configure Aider with Claude
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-api-key"
aider --model claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
                

                    ~/.config/Code - Insiders/User/settings.json
                    json
                

{
  // Python & AI Development
  "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "~/.local/share/uv/python/cpython-3.12",
  "python.analysis.typeCheckingMode": "basic",

  // GitHub Copilot Settings
  "github.copilot.enable": {
    "*": true,
    "markdown": true,
    "yaml": true
  },
  "github.copilot.editor.enableAutoCompletions": true,

  // Editor Configuration
  "editor.inlineSuggest.enabled": true,
  "editor.suggestSelection": "first",
  "editor.fontSize": 14,
  "editor.fontFamily": "'JetBrains Mono', 'Fira Code', monospace",
  "editor.fontLigatures": true,

  // Terminal for Claude Code
  "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 13,
  "terminal.integrated.fontFamily": "'JetBrains Mono'",

  // File Associations
  "files.associations": {
    "*.prompt": "markdown"
  }
}
                

Structural Design Patterns

AI-assisted development benefits from solid architectural patterns. These structural patterns help organize code that integrates with multiple AI services and APIs.

Adapter

Wrap different AI provider APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, local) behind a unified interface. Essential for multi-model applications.

Facade

Simplify complex AI pipelines into single entry points. Hide the complexity of chained prompts and multi-step workflows.

Decorator

Add logging, caching, rate limiting, and retry logic to AI calls without modifying core code. Perfect for production hardening.

Proxy

Control access to expensive AI operations. Implement lazy loading, caching, and access control for model inference.

                    patterns/ai_adapter.py
                    python
                

from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
from functools import wraps
import time

# Adapter Pattern: Unified AI Provider Interface
class AIProvider(ABC):
    @abstractmethod
    async def complete(self, prompt: str, **kwargs) -> str:
        pass

class AnthropicAdapter(AIProvider):
    async def complete(self, prompt: str, **kwargs) -> str:
        response = await self.client.messages.create(
            model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
            messages=[{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]
        )
        return response.content[0].text

# Decorator Pattern: Add cross-cutting concerns
def with_retry(max_attempts: int = 3, delay: float = 1.0):
    def decorator(func):
        @wraps(func)
        async def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
            for attempt in range(max_attempts):
                try:
                    return await func(*args, **kwargs)
                except Exception as e:
                    if attempt == max_attempts - 1:
                        raise
                    await asyncio.sleep(delay * (2 ** attempt))
        return wrapper
    return decorator

def with_cache(ttl: int = 300):
    cache = {}
    def decorator(func):
        @wraps(func)
        async def wrapper(self, prompt: str, **kwargs):
            key = hash(prompt + str(kwargs))
            if key in cache:
                timestamp, value = cache[key]
                if time.time() - timestamp < ttl:
                    return value
            result = await func(self, prompt, **kwargs)
            cache[key] = (time.time(), result)
            return result
        return wrapper
    return decorator
                

The AI-Assisted Workflow

Understand with Claude Code

Start new tasks by asking Claude Code to explain the relevant codebase areas. Use /add to include files in context and ask architectural questions.

Plan the Implementation

Use Claude Code's reasoning to design the solution. Ask for a step-by-step plan before writing any code. Review and refine the approach.

Implement with Claude Code/Copilot

Use Claude Code for multi-file changes with agentic reasoning, Copilot for inline completions. Iterate quickly with AI assistance.

Review with Claude Code

Return to Claude Code for code review. Ask it to find bugs, security issues, and suggest improvements. Use /diff to review changes.

Commit with Aider

Use Aider to create meaningful commit messages. It understands the changes and generates descriptive messages automatically.

Hands-On Exercises

Set up VS Code Insiders with all four AI tools configured and working
Use Claude Code to understand an unfamiliar open-source codebase
Implement a new feature using Claude Code across 5+ files
Refactor a messy function using Copilot suggestions and Claude review
Build an AI adapter that switches between Anthropic and OpenAI
Add caching and retry decorators to an AI service class
Complete a pair programming session with Aider, reviewing the git history
Compare solution quality: same task solved by Copilot vs Claude Code

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AI-Assisted
Development

The AI Coding Toolkit

When to Use What

VS Code Insiders Setup

Pro Tip

Structural Design Patterns

Adapter

Facade

Decorator

Proxy

The AI-Assisted Workflow

Understand with Claude Code

Plan the Implementation

Implement with Claude Code/Copilot

Review with Claude Code

Commit with Aider

Hands-On Exercises

Ready to 10x Your Development?

Ask iSeeCI

AI-Assisted Development

The AI Coding Toolkit

When to Use What

VS Code Insiders Setup

Pro Tip

Structural Design Patterns

Adapter

Facade

Decorator

Proxy

The AI-Assisted Workflow

Understand with Claude Code

Plan the Implementation

Implement with Claude Code/Copilot

Review with Claude Code

Commit with Aider

Hands-On Exercises

Ready to 10x Your Development?

Ask iSeeCI

AI-Assisted
Development