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Cursor for Software Engineers

Course Summary

This course is designed to provide participants with hands-on experience leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs), Cursor, and the Agentic Software Development Lifecycle as a part of their software development process. Participants will learn to craft and refine effective prompts, configure Cursor with expert personas and best practices, and develop an entire non-trivial application in a day using an agentic-led workflow. AI safety and alignment will be discussed throughout the course, as this is critical to safely achieving development goals.

Prerequisites:

To get the most out of this session, participants should have:

  • Prior experience programming in Python, including installing dependency libraries

Purpose
Leverage Cursor as part of the Software Development Lifecycle
Audience
IT professionals who want to use Cursor for AI-assisted development
Role
Software Engineers | Software Developers
Skill level
Introduction
Style
Lecture | Hands-on Activities | Labs
Duration
1 day
Related technologies
AI/ML | Generative AI | Python

 

Learning objectives
  • Use Agentic SDLC workflows with Cursor
  • Write and refine prompts for complex engineering tasks
  • Configure Cursor rules for best practices in LLM-driven development

What you'll learn:

In this Cursor for Software Engineers course, you'll learn:

Prompt engineering

  • Designing your development flow using metacognitive patterns
  • Writing and configuring expert personas as Cursor rules
  • Adding manual rules in Cursor with checklists for reviewers
  • Understanding what to delegate and best practices
  • Current AI capabilities and ethical prompt design

Agentic SDLC

  • Creating and reviewing requirements documentation
  • Generating and documenting plans with LLMs
  • Applying thinking models across SDLC stages
  • Maintaining progress and bug logs as markdown files
  • Reviewing code and adhering to security and ethical guidelines

MCP servers

  • Setting up MCP servers
  • Integrating servers with Cursor for practical use cases
  • Exploring other allowlisted MCP servers
  • Building and hosting your own server

Cursor for Software Engineers

real world content

Real-World Content

Project-focused demos and labs using your tool stack and environment, not some canned "training room" lab.
expert practitioners

Expert Practitioners

Industry experts that bring their battle scars into the classroom.
experiential learning

Experiential Learning

More coding than lecture, coupled with architectural and design discussions.
fully customized

Tailored Outlines

Once-size-fits-all doesn't apply to training teams. That's where we come in!

Dive in and learn more

When transforming your workforce, it’s important to have expert advice and tailored solutions. We can help. Tell us your unique needs and we'll explore ways to address them.

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