5 Things I Learned Using Claude as My Daily Coding Assistant (4 Months In)

Víctor Martínez García — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 14:36:48 +0000

I’ve been using Claude as my primary AI coding assistant for the past 4 months across Python, TypeScript, and FastAPI projects. Not ChatGPT, not Copilot inline — Claude via the web app and Claude Code CLI.

Here’s what actually changed my workflow (and a few things that still frustrate me).

1. Upload the whole file, not snippets

This sounds obvious but I kept defaulting to pasting 20-line snippets like I did with ChatGPT. Claude’s context window is massive and it performs dramatically better when it can see the full picture.

Before:

"Here's my function, why isn't it working?"
[pastes 15 lines]

After:

[uploads entire service.py + the test file]
"The test on line 47 fails. Why?"

The difference isn’t subtle. With full context, Claude catches things like an unused import that’s shadowing a variable, or a type mismatch happening 3 files away. With snippets, it guesses.

2. Ask it to plan before coding

My biggest unlock: for anything non-trivial, I ask Claude to write the plan first, not the code.

"I need to add rate limiting to my FastAPI app. 
Don't write code yet. Outline the approach, 
the trade-offs, and where it should live in my 
existing architecture."

It’ll give you 2-3 options with trade-offs. You pick one, then ask for the code. The output is 10x better because it’s not guessing at your intent.

This also catches architectural mistakes before you’re 200 lines deep. I’ve scrapped plans at this stage probably 30% of the time — which saved me from writing code I’d have to throw away.

3. “Explain why, not just what” changes everything

Default Claude explanations are good. But adding “explain the reasoning, not just the solution” makes it a teacher.

Example: I was debugging a race condition in async Python code. Instead of just fixing it, I asked:

"Fix this, but explain why my original approach 
created the race condition, and what mental model 
I should use to avoid this pattern in the future."

I learned more about asyncio in that one exchange than in weeks of docs.

4. Claude Code is the underrated killer feature

If you’ve only used Claude in the browser, you’re missing the best part. Claude Code is a CLI tool that reads your whole codebase, makes changes across multiple files, runs tests, and shows you diffs before committing.

Real example from last week: I needed to migrate an API from v1 to v2 across a FastAPI project with ~40 files. I told Claude Code the migration plan and it:

Updated route handlers across 12 files
Adjusted the Pydantic models
Updated the OpenAPI tags
Modified 8 test files
Left the legacy v1 intact with deprecation warnings

Reviewed the diff, ran tests, done in 20 minutes. Would’ve taken me 2+ hours manually.

5. It says “I don’t know” — and that’s valuable

This is the habit I didn’t expect to appreciate. When Claude isn’t sure, it says so. Compared to models that confidently hallucinate API methods that don’t exist, this is a productivity feature.

When Claude says “I’m not certain this is the right approach for your stack — can you share the config?” I know to slow down and provide context instead of trusting a confident wrong answer.

Things that still frustrate me

To keep this honest:

Rate limits on Pro kick in during intense sessions (~50-70 Opus messages in a few hours)
No image generation means I still need a separate tool for diagrams
Peak hours are slow — 15-30s response times during US business hours are common
Occasionally over-cautious on completely reasonable requests

TL;DR

Use uploads instead of snippets. Plan before coding. Ask for reasoning, not just answers. Try Claude Code if you haven’t. Trust the “I don’t know.”

If you want the full breakdown with pricing, benchmarks vs ChatGPT, and detailed pros/cons, I wrote a longer review here: Claude Review 2026

What’s been your experience? Drop your own tips below.

I Used Cursor and Copilot Daily for 3 Months. Here’s My Honest Take

Víctor Martínez García — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 21:21:29 +0000

If you write code in 2026, you’ve probably heard the debate: Cursor or Copilot? I used both daily for 3 months on real production projects — Python backends, TypeScript frontends, and some Rust. Here’s what I found.

The Quick Verdict

Cursor wins for most developers. The multi-file editing is a genuine game-changer. But Copilot is still the better choice if you’re deep in the GitHub ecosystem or want to spend less.

Autocomplete: Different Philosophies

Cursor doesn’t just complete the current line — it predicts your next 3-5 lines based on intent. Changed a parameter type? Cursor suggests updating the validation, return type, and tests. One Tab press.

Copilot is more conservative but slightly more accurate on single-line completions (~78% vs ~74% acceptance rate in my testing). It excels at boilerplate but rarely surprises you with multi-step predictions.

The Multi-File Gap

This is where Cursor pulls ahead decisively.

I tested “add pagination to the users API endpoint” on both. Cursor modified the route handler, database query, response schema, AND the frontend component. Four files, one prompt, clean diff.

Copilot’s Workspace can do multi-file edits, but it’s a separate workflow — open Workspace, describe task, wait for plan, review, apply. More friction.

Head-to-Head

Feature	Cursor	Copilot
Price	$20/mo	$10/mo
Multi-file editing	Excellent	Good
Codebase indexing	Full project	Repo-aware
IDE support	Cursor only	VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim
Speed	200-400ms	100-200ms
Best for	App developers	GitHub workflows

My Recommendations

Choose Cursor if: You build full-stack apps, refactor across files often, and your time is worth more than $20/mo in saved productivity.

Choose Copilot if: You’re in the GitHub ecosystem, use JetBrains/Neovim, or want solid AI at $10/mo.

The Full Breakdown

This is the condensed version. I go much deeper on autocomplete benchmarks, codebase understanding, speed testing, and pricing analysis in the full comparison:

👉 Cursor vs GitHub Copilot 2026: Full Comparison with Benchmarks

I also ranked all 7 major AI coding assistants (including Windsurf, Claude Code, Devin, and Continue.dev):

👉 7 Best AI Coding Assistants Ranked (April 2026)

I run Honest AI Tools — independent reviews with no paid rankings. What AI coding tool are you using? I’d love to hear what’s working for you in the comments.

Forem: Víctor Martínez García