Work in Progress — This page is under development. Details may change and the weekly schedule is tentative.
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CS 7180: Vibe Coding

AI-Assisted Software Engineering

Master AI-assisted development for Silicon Valley. Build production apps with AI—the right way.

Spring 2026Tue/Thu 3:00-4:40 PM PSTLucie Stern 27, OaklandHybrid: In-Person + Zoom

Course Overview

This course trains master's level computer science students to become Silicon Valley-ready software engineers in the age of AI. Students will master AI-assisted development tools while maintaining professional engineering standards, learning to build high-quality, production-ready full-stack applications.

Building successful software with AI requires more than good prompting—it demands understanding how Large Language Models work, when to use which tools, how to evaluate AI-generated code systematically, and how to integrate AI into professional development workflows.

Hybrid Format: This course is offered in-person at Oakland Campus and via Zoom for remote students. The instructor has extensive experience teaching remotely, ensuring a great experience for all students regardless of location.

Why This Course?

  • Industry-Relevant: Tools and practices used in top tech companies
  • Portfolio-Focused: Build 3 prototype applications for your portfolio
  • Comprehensive: LLM fundamentals, prompt engineering, evals, TDD, CI/CD
  • Balanced: Learn AI-assisted coding AND prove you can code without AI
  • Future-Proof: Master the workflow, not just current tools
Instructor

John Alexis Guerra Gómez

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Office Hours

By appointment via Slack

The Three AI Modalities

Students will master three distinct AI coding paradigms:

Modality 1: Claude Web

Best for: Architecture planning, learning, complex problem-solving

Skills: Claude Projects, artifacts, conversational iteration

Modality 2: Antigravity

Best for: Professional development, production code, daily workflow

Skills: Tab autocomplete, Composer, .antigravityrules, YOLO mode

Modality 3: Claude Code

Best for: Automation, multi-file refactoring, DevOps

Skills: Terminal workflows, autonomous agents, script automation

Portfolio Projects

All projects are open topic—you choose what to build after getting instructor approval.

Project 1: Personal Utility App

Build a personal utility application that solves a real problem validated through Mom Test interviews.

  • 5+ user stories with CRUD operations
  • Basic test suite (50%+ coverage)
  • GitHub Actions CI pipeline
  • Deployed and publicly accessible
13% of gradeDue Week 6
Project 2: Full-Stack Application

Complete full-stack application using multiple AI modalities, Agile practices, TDD, and production-grade CI/CD.

  • User authentication (JWT/OAuth)
  • Test-Driven Development (80%+ coverage)
  • Comprehensive evaluation suite
  • 2 documented Agile sprints
18% of gradeDue Week 10
Project 3: Production App with Claude Code Mastery

Pair project: deploy a production-grade app demonstrating mastery of Claude Code extensibility (W10-W14).

  • CLAUDE.md, skills, hooks, MCP, agents
  • TDD + CI/CD with AI PR review
  • Vercel deployment + Sentry monitoring
  • Blog post + screencast + live demo
19% of gradeDue Finals Week (Apr 21)

Interactive Timeline

Navigate through the semester to see what you should be working on each week.

Weekly Schedule

Schedule is tentative and subject to change.

Week Topics Slides
1 Introduction Intro
2 LLM Architecture & Tokenization LLMs
3 Prompt Engineering Basics Prompts
4 Claude Web & Artifacts, HW1 due Research
5 Claude Web Deep Dive: Artifacts, HW2 due Artifacts
6 Project 1 Due, IDE-Centric AI Coding, P2 pair formation IDE AI
7 Agile/Scrum + Pair Workflow Agile+Pairs
8 Advanced IDE AI Features, HW3 due IDE Advanced
9 Spring Break - No Class
10 Project 2 Due, Claude Code Foundations, P3 team formation Claude Code Foundations
11 Claude Code Workflows & TDD, HW4 due Claude Code Workflows
12 Claude Code Extensibility Claude Code Extensibility
13 Agent Architectures & SDK, HW5 due Agent Architectures
14 AI Security & Code Quality AI Security
15 Production & Course Synthesis Production
16 Finals Week — Project 3 Due (Apr 21)

Grading

Component %
Participation 15%
Weekly Quizzes 10%
Homeworks (5 assignments) 25%
Projects (3 major) 50%

Key Topics

  • LLM Fundamentals & Limitations
  • Multi-Modal AI Development
  • Prompt & Context Engineering
  • Evaluation Systems (Evals)
  • Test-Driven Development with AI
  • Professional CI/CD Pipelines
  • Agile Practices with AI
  • Claude Code & Agent Architectures

Technologies & Tools

Tech Stack
React / Next.jsNode.js / ExpressPostgreSQL / MongoDBJest / VitestPlaywright / CypressGitHub ActionsTailwindCSSTypeScript
Required Tools
  • Antigravity (free)
  • Claude.ai account (Pro recommended, $20/month)
  • GitHub account
  • Node.js 18+ and npm
  • Git

Required Books

  • The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
  • Scrum by Jeff Sutherland
Recommended
  • Designing for Growth by Liedtka & Ogilvie

Resources

Required Readings & Resources

Organized by week. Click to expand each section.

Required Viewing
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Interactive Tools

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Required Books
  • The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
Recommended

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Required Book
  • Scrum by Jeff Sutherland - Start reading this week
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Communication

Slack is the main communication channel for this course. Canvas is used for assignment submissions and grades.

This course requires AI tool use but with strict guidelines: document all AI usage, understand all code submitted, never commit code you cannot explain. Weekly quizzes test conceptual understanding.

CS 7180: Special Topics in AI | Northeastern University Oakland | Spring 2026
Vibe Coded with ❤️ by John