ai Nov 15, 2024 13 min read

Prompt Engineering for Developers: Getting Better AI Results

Shane Barron

Laravel Developer & AI Integration Specialist

Prompts Are Programs

A prompt is essentially a program written in natural language. Like any program, it needs clear instructions, well-defined inputs, and expected output formats. Poor prompts lead to unpredictable results.

The Anatomy of a Good Prompt

$prompt = <<



Key Techniques

1. Be Specific
// Vague
"Write a function to process orders"

// Specific
"Write a PHP function that:
- Takes an Order model and array of items
- Validates inventory availability
- Calculates total with tax
- Returns OrderResult with status and message"

2. Provide Examples (Few-Shot Learning)
$prompt = <<= DATE_TRUNC('month', CURRENT_DATE)

Example 2:
Input: "Count orders by status"
Output: SELECT status, COUNT(*) FROM orders GROUP BY status

Now convert:
Input: "{$userQuery}"
Output:
PROMPT;

3. Chain of Thought
$prompt = <<


4. Output Formatting
// Force structured output
$prompt .= <<


Temperature and Parameters

Temperature 0: Deterministic, best for factual/coding tasks
Temperature 0.3-0.7: Balanced creativity and coherence
Temperature 1.0+: Creative, unpredictable outputs


Testing Prompts
class PromptTest extends TestCase
{
    public function test_sql_generation_prompt(): void
    {
        $testCases = [
            ['input' => 'Get all active users', 'expected_contains' => 'WHERE'],
            ['input' => 'Count by category', 'expected_contains' => 'GROUP BY'],
        ];

        foreach ($testCases as $case) {
            $result = $this->ai->generate($this->buildPrompt($case['input']));
            $this->assertStringContainsString($case['expected_contains'], $result);
        }
    }
}

Conclusion
Prompt engineering is a skill that improves with practice. Be explicit, provide examples, and test thoroughly. Your prompts are code—treat them with the same rigor.





    
        
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                Shane Barron
                Strategic Technology Architect with 40 years of experience building production systems. Specializing in Laravel, AI integration, and enterprise architecture.
            
        
    




    
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