Learn · Introductory · Free

Start coding with Claude

If you ask a friend to buy bread for you and give no other information, there is a good chance you will end up with the wrong bread. Now, if you say which type, from which shop and what it is for, you will get what you want. Claude works the same way, and every session is a new friend. Claude needs the job, the context and a way to check, just like your friend does.

You may know Claude from the website or the app; this chapter moves you to Claude Code in the terminal, gently: what a terminal is, why every lesson here uses it, and how to undo any mistake. Then it teaches three habits: give Claude a memory, ask clearly, and check its work. The harder chapters build on them.

Lessons

• Lesson 1Setting up Claude Code
• Lesson 2How Claude remembers
• Lesson 3Prompting
• Lesson 4Checking Claude's work

Further resources

• Claude Code: Terminal guide for new users: how to open a terminal on a Mac or Windows, install Claude Code, and fix a "command not found" error.
• Claude Code quickstart: the official install steps and first commands.
• HumanLayer: Writing a good CLAUDE.md: why a short project file beats a long one.
• Simon Willison: Designing agentic loops: how a clear goal and a check let a coding agent work on its own.
• Ethan Mollick: Claude Code and what comes next: a non-programmer's tour of what Claude Code can do.