The secret that makes engineers great at prompting

Here's what Shaun Lewis, engineering director at O'Reilly Media, said in an interview:

"And the people who are really good at communicating, who are really good at writing, who are really good at speaking, can translate that really well into prompt engineering. Versus it feels like people who are not as good at communicating have a harder time with that."

For a long time, you could be a great engineer while being a terrible writer.

After all, code != prose. Some of the most cracked engineers I have met are terrible at writing emails, posts, et cetera. They struggle to communicate in a way that others can understand. Writing code and writing prose are just different skills.

Except now, suddenly, they are linked.

Your ability to create high-quality software now depends on how well you can write English text. Or whatever natural language you use with your coding agent.

And it explains why some engineers are more productive with coding agents than others. Because those who learn to write well, to communicate well, and who are great at writing and speaking to humans... well, they can leverage AI much better than those who cannot.

Of course, writing well benefits your career and your life in many other ways.

But natural languages like English are kind of the opposite of artificial languages like Python. The former is teaming with ambiguous syntax, which we treat as a fatal flaw if it happens in a coding language. Natural languages are intrinsically imprecise, the opposite of what we want when we are building software systems.

And I would argue that learning to write is also the key to thought leadership. Especially when scaling it up, and reaping all its rewards.

I hope you're convinced: there are many compelling reasons to improve your ability to write well. You just get so many compounding advantages.

That's why Boosted Code includes a training module called:

"Writing: The Key To Thought Leadership"

Which will definitely teach you how to communicate well using the written word, guiding you in the way your precision-ridden engineering mind needs, in order to learn how to do it well.

(As opposed to if you, say, take a creative writing class by some artsy individual who can barely program a microwave. All love to that kind of person. But they cannot relate to how your very different mind works, when trying to teach you.)

This illustrates why I wanted to create Boosted Code in the first place: all these training modules work together, in exciting and synergistic ways.

Learning to write does not just expand your professional network, help you connect with everyone better, and goes a long way to establishing your authority and professional status. It does all those things. But it also makes you much more effective with coding agents, too.

Something to think about.

Find out more about Boosted Code's training on writing and other topics here: