Web Application Development with AI

12 units · Undergraduate

Fall and Spring: 12 units AI is changing how software is built, and web application development is one of the most exciting ways to explore its possibilities. An idea can become an interactive prototype in an afternoon. Turning that prototype into a reliable application takes technical knowledge, creativity, and engineering judgment. This course brings those skills together, helping you take an original idea from concept to a live application. After learning the fundamentals of web application development, you will work in a team to design, build, test, and deploy an original web application using AI coding tools such as GitHub Copilot, Codex, and Claude Code. Through hands-on experience with AI-assisted programming, often called "vibe coding," you will learn to develop applications you understand and can confidently improve. The course will guide you from brainstorming and prototyping to cloud deployment, helping you create an application you can share with others and showcase in your portfolio. The technical core of the course is Python and the Django framework, complemented by JavaScript, AJAX, and React for building interactive user interfaces, and REST APIs for communication between applications and services. Topics include HTTP, HTTPS and TLS/SSL, HTML, CSS, JSON, WebSockets for real-time communication, software design, relational databases, object-relational mapping, web security, testing, cloud deployment, internationalization, scalability, and performance. You will apply these foundations to evaluate, improve, and extend the software you build with AI. Students must be comfortable programming in Python and have access to their own computer. Visit the course website for more information. Prerequisites: 17-214 or 17-514 or 15-213 or 18-213 or 15-513 or 14-513 Course Website: https://www.cmu-webapps.org/static/index/syllabus.pdf