Code Literacy for Non-Programmers

You do not have to write code to build software with AI. But to build it well, you do need to read it a little: enough to tell whether what the AI produced is right, safe, and doing what you asked. That skill, code literacy, is the difference between blindly trusting an AI and confidently directing it. This course teaches it from zero.

Code Literacy for Non-Programmers is not a coding course. You will not learn to write programs from scratch. Instead you will learn to look at AI-generated code and understand its shape, follow what it does, spot the common mistakes and the confident-sounding hallucinations AIs sometimes produce, and use the AI itself as a patient translator that explains anything you do not understand. You finish by auditing a small AI-built app end to end.

Everything is taught in plain language with clear diagrams and tiny, readable examples. It is tool-agnostic, and it pairs naturally with the rest of the vibe coding track. No prior experience is required, though having built something with AI will make the ideas land faster. Each module blends a short video overview, illustrated lessons, a knowledge-check quiz, and a hands-on interactive activity.

What you will be able to do:

• See how programs are shaped: inputs, steps, decisions, repetition and outputs.
• Read the vocabulary of code, files, functions, variables and data, in plain English.
• Spot the two kinds of wrong: code that breaks loudly and code that is quietly incorrect.
• Recognise AI hallucinations, like invented functions and made-up libraries.
• Ask the AI the right questions to explain its own code.
• Audit an AI-built app for correctness, safety and clarity.

Who it is for: Non-programmers, beginners and makers who build with AI and want to understand and trust the code they get, rather than accepting it on faith.

Course outline: Orientation · How Programs Are Shaped · Files, Functions and Data · Spotting Mistakes and Hallucinations · Asking the AI to Explain Itself · Capstone: Audit an AI-Built App.