AI Usage Guide - Lesson 3

When to Use AI Today

Good Uses

• Ask AI to explain an error message
• Ask AI what a piece of code does
• Ask AI why your code isn't working (share the error!)
• Ask AI to explain JavaScript concepts

Examples of Good Questions

• "What does 'SyntaxError: Unexpected token' mean?"
• "Why does JavaScript care about capitalization?"
• "What's the difference between single quotes and double quotes in JavaScript?"
• "My code says 'undefined' - what does that mean?"

Avoid Using AI For

• Don't ask AI to write the code for you
• Type every line yourself
• The goal is to understand how code runs, not to finish fastest

AI Ethos for This Session

Today is about understanding how code executes. This is foundational - everything else builds on it.

When you hit an error:

1. Read the error message
2. Look at the line number it mentions
3. Compare your code to the examples
4. Then ask AI if still stuck

Errors are learning opportunities, not failures.

Concepts to Understand (Not Just Memorize)

By end of today, you should be able to explain:

• Why code runs top to bottom
• What console.log() does
• Why spelling and syntax matter
• What comments are for

Common Mistakes to Watch For

// Missing closing quote
console.log("Hello);

// Misspelled console
consol.log("Hello");

// Missing parenthesis
console.log("Hello";

// Using wrong quotes (curly quotes from Word/docs)
console.log("Hello");  // These curly quotes won't work!

If your code doesn't work, check for these first!