The syllabus

1. I

   Unit I: How your app runs

   Where your code actually runs, what it depends on, and why the copy on your laptop is not the copy on the internet.

   1. 01Three places your app livesMost web apps run in three places at once: the visitor's browser, your server and a database. Knowing which part runs where tells you where a bug lives and what a visitor can see.5 min
   2. 02The code you did not writeAn AI-built app usually pulls in dozens or hundreds of packages written by other people. Knowing how they are listed, pinned and updated keeps the app from changing under you.5 min
   3. 03Your laptop is not productionThe same code behaves differently on your laptop, on a test copy and on the live site, because the settings, the data and the traffic differ. Keeping them apart on purpose avoids the worst surprises.5 min

2. II

   Unit II: Saving and undoing

   Version control turns "I hope this works" into "I can always go back": commits, branches, and what never belongs in the history.

   1. 04Commits are save pointsGit records your project as a series of snapshots called commits. A commit before every big request to the AI means you can always get back to a version that worked.5 min
   2. 05Branches and going back safelyBranches let you try something without touching the working version, and Git has more than one way to undo. The right one depends on whether others already have your commits.6 min
   3. 06What never goes in the repositoryA repository remembers everything, including the key you committed by mistake and deleted a minute later. Keep secrets and generated files out from the start.5 min

3. III

   Unit III: Going live

   What happens between typing your address and seeing your app: names, certificates, and the settings that must change on the way to production.

   1. 07Domains and DNS, without the fogThree different companies can be involved in one web address: the registrar you rent the name from, the DNS host that answers questions about it, and the web host that runs the app.6 min
   2. 08HTTPS and certificatesHTTPS encrypts the traffic between browser and server and lets the browser check that it is talking to your site. The certificate that makes this work expires, so renewal has to be automatic.5 min
   3. 09Settings, secrets and debug modeConfiguration is everything that changes between your laptop and the live site. Two mistakes cause many leaks: secrets that end up in browser code, and debug mode left on in production.6 min

4. IV

   Unit IV: Your data

   How a database holds your app's memory, how to change its shape without losing anything, and how to know a backup really works.

   1. 10Tables, rows and keysA relational database stores data in tables. Keys and constraints are rules the database enforces for you, even when the code, or the AI that wrote it, forgets.5 min
   2. 11Changing the shape safelySooner or later you add a column or a table to a live database. Migrations make those changes as ordered files that run the same way everywhere.5 min
   3. 12Backups you have actually testedA backup is only real once you have restored from it. A copy on the same server as the app fails together with the app.5 min

5. V

   Unit V: Money and limits

   Usage-based bills, the limits that protect you from them, and taking payments without ever holding a card number.

   1. 13API keys spend real moneyMost AI and cloud APIs bill by usage. A key is closer to a credit card than to a password: whoever holds it can run up your bill.5 min
   2. 14Rate limits, retries and runaway loopsAPIs limit how fast you may call them. How your app reacts to "slow down" decides whether it recovers quietly or hammers the API and burns your quota.5 min
   3. 15Taking payments without holding cardsLet a payment processor handle card details. Your app only needs to know, reliably, that a payment happened.6 min

6. VI

   Unit VI: People and rules

   Who owns what the AI produced, what you owe the people whose data you hold, and pages everyone can use. Not legal advice: every source is linked so you can read it yourself.

   1. 16Who owns what the AI wroteTwo separate questions: whether anyone can hold copyright in AI output, and what the tool's terms and any open-source licences ask of you.6 min
   2. 17Personal data: collect less, say what you doEvery email address and name your app stores is a responsibility. The simplest protection is data you never collected.5 min
   3. 18Pages everyone can useAccessibility means people who use screen readers, keyboards, zoom or high contrast can use your app too. A few checks catch the most common failures in AI-built pages.5 min

About the final exam