AI Prompting Guidelines
In the age of generative AI, professionals across industries are leveraging tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and others to boost productivity and creativity. A recent survey found 78% of organizations use AI in at least one business function, illustrating how widespread this trend has become. Below, we provide an industry-by-industry overview of how prompting can be applied, guidelines for effective prompts, and example prompts (with recommended AI tools, difficulty level, and expected outcomes).
Softwarer Development AI Prompting Guidelines
Industry Overview
Software developers employ AI prompting to write code snippets, explain code, and accelerate debugging. The adoption is already high – about 76% of developers in a recent survey said they are using or planning to use AI tools in their development process. By describing the desired function or asking for help with a specific error, developers can have AI generate boilerplate code, suggest improvements, or translate pseudocode into actual code in various programming languages. This doesn't replace coding skills, but it acts as a powerful assistant.
Prompting Guidelines
- State the Programming Language: Clearly mention the language or framework for coding prompts (e.g., Python, JavaScript, SQL).
- Be Specific with Requirements: Describe what the code should do, including inputs and outputs, and any constraints (e.g., "in O(n) time complexity").
- Include Examples: For complex tasks, provide an example input and desired output in the prompt to illustrate the goal.
- Ask for Comments/Explanation: If learning, prompt the AI to add comments in the code or provide an explanation after the code.
- Small Scope for Safer Code: Tackle one function or problem at a time. Short, focused prompts reduce the chance of logical errors and make it easier to review the AI's code.
Example Prompts
"Write a Python function calculate_tax(amount, state) that calculates sales tax on an amount. Include comments explaining each step."
"Explain what the following JavaScript code does and identify any issues: [insert code snippet]."
"Convert this pseudocode into Java code: [insert pseudocode algorithm]."
"Optimize the following SQL query for performance and explain the changes: [INSERT SQL QUERY]."
"Generate 5 test cases (inputs and expected outputs) for a function that reverses a string, covering edge cases like empty string and Unicode characters."