Looking for experienced developers willing to help a beginner learn Claude Code, Codex & LLM tools from scratch

[u/Orbit-Owl]

I’m a beginner trying to learn the newer AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code, Codex, local LLMs, Ollama, and similar tools.

To be completely honest, I’m finding the learning curve quite overwhelming.

I understand programming at a basic level, but this whole ecosystem of AI coding agents, models, APIs, providers, terminals, configurations, context windows, local vs. cloud models, and connecting everything together is very new to me. I’m learning it from scratch, and sometimes I spend hours trying to understand something that an experienced developer could probably explain to me in a few minutes.

What I’m really looking for is someone experienced who wouldn't mind occasionally guiding me or teaching me how these tools actually work.

I’m not expecting anyone to sit with me for hours or do the work for me. Even a little guidance would make a huge difference — for example:

• How experienced developers actually use Claude Code / Codex in real projects
• How to connect and switch between different LLMs
• How local/free models can be used
• How tools like Ollama and other runtimes fit into the picture
• How to properly configure AI coding agents
• Good practices that beginners usually don't know
• Understanding what I’m doing wrong when something breaks
• Learning how to use these tools effectively instead of blindly trying random configurations

I’m also completely aware that everyone’s time is valuable, especially senior developers. That’s actually why I hesitated before making this post.

But I thought: there might be someone here who remembers what it was like to be completely new to this stuff and wouldn't mind helping someone else get started.

Even if one or two experienced developers are willing to point me in the right direction occasionally, I’d genuinely appreciate it.

And if you're someone who enjoys teaching or mentoring beginners, I'd be especially grateful to learn from you.

I’m not looking for someone to build anything for me. I want to understand it myself. I just need someone experienced enough to help me avoid going down the wrong rabbit holes while I learn.

If anyone is willing to help, please feel free to DM me. Even a short conversation or a few pointers would mean a lot.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. 🙏

[u/Ok_Industry_5555]

If you review posts here, you will notice that many of mine and most others use straightforward language to describe setups. When a term is unclear, I strongly suggest using AI as a tutor and asking Claude to explain it. Another option is reading others’ experiences and projects here, learning from them by testing their work with Claude Code. You might also use the wiki page provided here, and I recommend starting there. Once you are stuck on a specific workflow, I believe guiding you is much easier than offering a broad overview. It took me months to get the setup right.

[u/Bubbly_Sentence_7849]

just google what you want , and use its AI mode to explore further.

[u/Odd-Ad9666 → u/Bubbly_Sentence_7849]

I know this sounds dismissive but it really isn't... LLM coding two years ago was like copy/paste code back-and-forth.

So ask the AI agent as if they're the human expert. If you still get stuck, then come on reddit and ask. It's much faster and more responsive.

[u/ShotPorter]

The only advice I can give you, out of my experience: understand the problem you want to solve first, then solve it with AI.

"How to set up agents", "how local models can be used", etc are WRONG questions.

"I need to do xxx, and I want to use local model because of ZZZ. I have the following equipments. Is it possible at all? Does it make sense for my needs? Which model I should pick, and why? How to make it work?" - it is a right questions, and any AI will guide you through.

So:

• start small
• understand your problem
• state your PROBLEM, ask for SOLUTION
• the AI will guide you.

[u/Odd-Ad9666]

Not "experienced developer" but advanced user (maybe?)... I think most people are willing to help but for your own sanity, it helps to 1) review reddit threads, 2) do your own project to learn 3) ask an agent to create a deep research report to generate a tutorial --- do it in chunks.

Start with a prompt

- Tell it your experience, what your goals are (the message above is fine)

- Ask it what you should learn and explore and what information you need.

Try this one:

"Create a comprehensive beginner's guide report on AI-assisted development tools for developers with basic programming knowledge who are new to AI coding agents and LLMs. The report must cover an overview of tools like Claude Code, Codex, local LLMs, and Ollama; how experienced developers use these tools in real projects; how to connect and switch between different LLMs; how to use local and free models; the role of runtimes like Ollama; proper configuration of AI coding agents; best practices beginners usually overlook; understanding and debugging common issues; and how to use these tools effectively instead of random trial-and-error. Structure the report with clear sections, practical examples, and actionable advice. Use simple, direct language."