The Complete Guide to Prompt Engineering

# The Complete Guide to Prompt Engineering

Prompt engineering is the skill of crafting inputs that get the best outputs from AI models. Let's master it.

## Core Principles

### 1. Be Specific
Vague prompts get vague results. Be clear about what you want.

**Bad**: "Write about AI"
**Good**: "Write a 500-word introduction to machine learning for beginners, focusing on practical applications"

### 2. Provide Context
Give the model information it needs to understand your request.

### 3. Use Examples
Show the model what you want with examples (few-shot learning).

### 4. Iterate
Refine your prompts based on results.

## Advanced Techniques

### Chain of Thought
Ask the model to explain its reasoning:
"Let's think step by step..."

### Role Playing
Assign the model a role:
"You are an expert Python developer..."

### Output Formatting
Specify the desired format:
"Provide your answer as a JSON object with keys..."

## Common Patterns

1. **Instruction Following**: Clear, direct commands
2. **Question Answering**: Structured questions with context
3. **Text Transformation**: Specify input and desired output format
4. **Creative Generation**: Provide style, tone, and constraints

## Tools and Resources

- OpenAI Playground
- PromptBase
- LangChain prompt templates

## Conclusion

Prompt engineering is a skill that improves with practice. Experiment, iterate, and learn from results!