Archives mensuelles : juillet 2025

From Annoying Intern to Senior Sidekick: A Developer’s Guide to Mastering AI

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Let’s be honest. We’ve all been there. You paste a chunk of code into an AI chat window, type « fix this, » and hold your breath, hoping for magic. What you get back is a syntactically correct, beautifully useless piece of nonsense that completely misses the point. You sigh, close the tab, and go back to cursing at your screen and console.log()-ing your way to a solution.

The initial « wow » factor of AI in software development has quickly been replaced by a more pragmatic, and sometimes frustrating, reality. These Large Language Models (LLMs) aren’t the magical oracles we were promised. They won’t steal our jobs tomorrow, but they are changing the very nature of our work. The difference between a developer who struggles with AI and one who thrives with it comes down to a simple, fundamental shift in mindset.

Stop treating your AI like a search engine or a magic 8-ball. Start treating it like a hyper-enthusiastic, infinitely patient, but slightly amnesiac junior developer.

Once you make that switch, everything changes.

The « Vague-Posting » Fallacy: Why Your Prompts Fail

You wouldn’t walk up to a new team member, vaguely gesture at a monitor, and say, « Code something. » You’d get a blank stare, and rightfully so. Yet, this is precisely how most developers interact with AI.

A bad prompt is the developer equivalent of vague-posting on social media. It lacks context, intent, and constraints.

  • Bad Prompt: Write a Python script for an API.
  • AI’s Inner Monologue: An API for what? Using which framework? Flask? FastAPI? What should the endpoints be? What data format? Does this person even know what they want?! I’ll just give them a generic Flask « Hello, World! » and hope they go away.

To get professional-grade output, you need to provide a professional-grade brief.

The Anatomy of a Killer Prompt: Giving Your Junior AI a Proper Spec

Think of your prompt as a ticket in Jira or a project brief. It needs to be clear, concise, and contain all the necessary information for your « junior dev » to succeed. Here’s your new checklist.

1. Assign a Persona: « You Are a… »
This is the most underrated trick in the book. By giving the AI a role, you anchor its knowledge base and response style. It’s the difference between asking a random person for directions and asking a seasoned taxi driver. Use instructions files for that, even generate instructions based on your codebase (GEMINI.md, AGENT.md, copilot-instructions.md, .cursorrules, etc.).

Example: "You are a senior backend developer with 15 years of experience in .NET Core and a specialist in postgres optimization."

2. Provide Rich Context: The Lay of the Land
Your intern can’t work in a vacuum. They need the full picture. This is the most crucial part. Don’t be lazy here (it will be time more consuming if you are). Provide:

  • Relevant Code: The specific function, class, or component you’re working on.
  • File Structure: If relevant, explain the project’s layout.
  • Dependencies & Versions: (Using .NET Core 9.x and EF Core 9.x)
  • The Goal: What business problem are you trying to solve? Why does this code need to exist?

3. Define the Objective & Constraints: The « What » and « What Not »
Be explicit about the task and, just as importantly, the boundaries.

  • The Task: "Refactor this function to improve its readability and performance."
  • The Constraints: "Do not add any new external libraries. The function must remain backward-compatible with the existing API signature. Ensure you add type hints and a clear docstring explaining the logic."

4. Show, Don’t Just Tell: The Power of Few-Shot Examples
If you want the output in a specific format, give it an example! This is called « few-shot prompting » and it’s incredibly effective.

Example: "I want you to generate unit tests. Here's an example of a test for a similar function: [Paste example test code]. Now, generate three new tests for the following function: [Paste new function code]."

5. Demand a Specific Output Format: The Deliverable
Don’t let the AI just dump a wall of text. Tell it exactly how you want the information presented.

Example: "Please provide your answer in a Markdown format. First, provide the refactored code in a .NET code block. Second, create a bulleted list explaining the key changes you made and why. Finally, provide a new set of unit tests in a separate code block."

The AI-Powered Workflow: Moving Beyond Simple Code Generation

With this robust prompting strategy, you can now integrate AI across your entire development lifecycle. It becomes less of a novelty and more of a force multiplier.

For Debugging:

  • Old Way: "My code is broken, here it is."
  • New Way: "You are an expert Typescript debugger. I'm getting a 'KeyError' on line 42 of this script. Here is the full function, the stack trace, and a sample of the JSON object that is causing the error. Explain the root cause and suggest two ways to fix it, one being a simple hotfix and the other being a more robust, long-term solution."

For Refactoring and Code Reviews:

  • Old Way: "Make this better."
  • New Way: "Act as a senior software architect conducting a code review. Analyze this TypeScript function for potential performance bottlenecks, anti-patterns, and opportunities to use more modern ES6+ features. Provide your feedback in a list, referencing line numbers and suggesting specific code improvements."

For Documentation and Onboarding:

  • Old Way: "Write docs for this."
  • New Way: "Generate a README.md file for this Go project. The project is a command-line tool that does [X]. Include sections for: 'What it is', 'Installation' (assuming Go 1.19+ is installed), 'Usage' with three clear command-line examples, and a 'Configuration' section explaining theconfig.yamlfile."

For Learning and Exploration:

  • Old Way: "Explain Rust's borrow checker."
  • New Way: "I'm an experienced C++ developer trying to understand Rust's borrow checker. Explain it to me using analogies related to C++ memory management, like smart pointers (unique_ptr, shared_ptr) and RAII. Provide a simple code example in both C++ and Rust to illustrate the concept of ownership."

The Human in the Loop: You’re Still the Pilot

Here’s the crucial takeaway: AI is a phenomenal co-pilot. It can handle navigation, check systems, and manage communications, freeing you up to focus on the hard stuff—like actually flying the plane.

Your value is no longer in your ability to write boilerplate code or remember the exact syntax for a LEFT JOIN. Your value is in:

  • Architectural Vision: Designing complex, scalable, and maintainable systems.
  • Critical Thinking: Knowing when a piece of AI-generated code is brilliant and when it’s dangerously naive.
  • Domain Expertise: Understanding the business logic and user needs that the code is meant to serve.
  • Prompt Engineering: The new meta-skill of effectively directing your AI partner.

The developers who will be left behind are the ones who either reject these tools entirely or use them naively. The ones who will thrive are those who master them, transforming their AI from an annoying intern into a trusted, senior-level sidekick.

So, the next time you open that chat window, take a deep breath. You’re not talking to a machine; you’re briefing your new junior. Give them the respect of a clear, detailed task, and you’ll be amazed at what they can do for you.

Resolving the « Sharing is limited on this item » Error in SharePoint Online: A Guide to the Limited-access User Permission Lockdown Mode

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Introduction: The Scenario

As a SharePoint administrator or consultant, you have likely encountered scenarios where a seemingly simple task becomes unexpectedly complex. A common and often frustrating example is when a user attempts to share a file or folder with a new external guest, only to be met with the following error message:

Sharing is limited on this item.You can only copy links for people with existing access, and you cannot invite anyone new.

The immediate reaction is to verify the sharing policies. You check the tenant-level settings in the SharePoint Admin Center, then the specific site collection’s settings. You confirm that sharing with « New and existing guests » is enabled. Yet, the error persists, leaving you to question what underlying mechanism is blocking this fundamental collaborative function.

This article provides a definitive solution to this specific problem, which often lies not in modern sharing policies, but in a legacy feature: the Limited-access user permission lockdown mode.

The Misleading Symptoms: Why Standard Checks Fail

Before identifying the root cause, it is essential to understand why the conventional troubleshooting path leads to a dead end in this case. An administrator would typically perform the following checks:

  1. Tenant-Level Sharing Policy: Navigating to the SharePoint Admin Center > Policies > Sharing, you confirm that the global setting for SharePoint is set to « New and existing guests » or « Anyone. »
  2. Site Collection-Level Sharing Policy: Navigating to Active Sites, selecting the problematic site, and clicking Sharing, you verify that its individual policy is also correctly set to « New and existing guests. »

When both of these settings are correctly configured, but the error remains, it is a clear indicator that a more granular or overriding setting is at play. The error message’s inability to « invite anyone new » is the critical clue.

Identifying the Root Cause: The Limited-access User Permission Lockdown Mode

The Limited-access user permission lockdown mode is a site collection feature inherited from older versions of SharePoint. Its original purpose was to enhance security in structured, non-collaborative environments (like classic publishing portals) by preventing users with « limited access » from viewing pages or application pages.

How Modern Sharing and Limited Access Work:
When a user shares a specific file or folder, SharePoint automatically grants the recipient a special permission level called « Limited Access » on the parent elements (the library, the root of the site). This permission does not allow the user to see other content but grants them the ability to « traverse » the site hierarchy to reach the specific item they have been given access to. This is fundamental to how per-item sharing operates.

The Conflict:
When the « Limited-access user permission lockdown mode » is active, it disrupts this mechanism. It effectively removes the ability for users with Limited Access permissions to navigate the site. Consequently, when SharePoint attempts to process a new external invitation, it foresees that the new guest, even after accepting the invitation, would not be able to reach the shared content due to this lockdown. The system preemptively blocks the share, resulting in the error.

The Solution: Deactivating the Lockdown Mode

Resolving the issue involves deactivating this feature for the affected site collection. This action restores the standard behavior of the « Limited Access » permission level, thereby enabling modern sharing to function as intended.

Prerequisites: You must be a Site Collection Administrator for the target site.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

  1. Navigate to the Site: Open the SharePoint site collection where you are experiencing the sharing issue.
  2. Access Site Settings:
    • Click the Settings gear icon (⚙️) in the top-right corner.
    • Select Site information, and then click View all site settings.
    • (Alternatively, if available, you can directly click Site settings from the gear menu).
  3. Navigate to Site Collection Features:
    • Under the Site Collection Administration section, click on Site collection features.
  4. Locate and Deactivate the Feature:
    • Scroll through the list of features to find « Limited-access user permission lockdown mode. »
    • If the status is « Active, » click the Deactivate button.
  5. Confirm the Deactivation: A confirmation prompt will appear. Click « Deactivate this feature » to proceed.
  6. Verification: Return to the document library or list item you were trying to share. The sharing functionality should now work as expected, allowing you to invite new external guests.

Conclusion and Best Practices

The « Limited-access user permission lockdown mode » is a powerful but legacy feature that is fundamentally incompatible with the collaborative intent of modern SharePoint sites. While it may have specific use cases in highly restricted environments, it should be deactivated by default on all modern Team Sites and Communication Sites intended for file sharing and collaboration.

By understanding the interplay between modern sharing mechanics and legacy site features, administrators can efficiently diagnose and resolve seemingly complex issues, ensuring a seamless and productive experience for their users. If you encounter the « Sharing is limited » error, and have already confirmed your primary sharing policies, checking the status of this lockdown mode should be your next critical step.