100 General Software Development Prompts

 Note: The prompts in this cheat sheet are for reference only. Use them as inspiration to create your own, and refer to our article for guidance on writing effective prompts. Since these were not written by professional developers, please review and validate before applying in practice.

100 Prompts Every Developer Wishes They Had in Their Toolbox

🔹 1. Code Generation Prompts (High Search Volume)

1. Write clean, production-ready [language] code to implement [feature], following best practices.
2. Generate a reusable utility function in [language] with proper error handling.
3. Create a REST API endpoint in [framework] with validation and authentication.
4. Write a CRUD application using [tech stack] with modular architecture.
5. Generate optimized SQL queries for [use case] with indexing suggestions.
6. Write a microservice in [language] that follows SOLID principles.
7. Create a pagination and filtering logic for large datasets.
8. Generate a GraphQL schema and resolver for [business domain].
9. Write async/await-based code to handle concurrent API calls.
10. Create a background job/worker using [framework/tool].

🔹 2. Debugging & Error Fixing Prompts (Highly Practical)

11. Analyze this error message and explain the root cause and fix: [paste error]
12. Debug this code and suggest performance improvements.
13. Identify memory leaks in the following code.
14. Explain why this API is returning 500 errors intermittently.
15. Find and fix race conditions in this concurrent code.
16. Analyze this stack trace and suggest step-by-step debugging actions.
17. Convert this blocking code into non-blocking async code.
18. Debug this database deadlock issue and propose solutions.
19. Explain why this code works locally but fails in production.
20. Detect potential security vulnerabilities in this code.

🔹 3. Code Review & Optimization Prompts

21. Perform a professional code review and suggest improvements.
22. Refactor this code to improve readability and maintainability.
23. Optimize this function for time and space complexity.
24. Suggest design pattern improvements for this module.
25. Identify unnecessary dependencies or anti-patterns.
26. Rewrite this code following clean code principles.
27. Suggest naming improvements for variables and functions.
28. Reduce cyclomatic complexity in this logic.
29. Convert this legacy code into modern best practices.
30. Review this PR like a senior software engineer.

🔹 4. System Design & Architecture Prompts (High Authority Content)

31. Design a scalable system architecture for [application].
32. Explain how to design a high-availability system.
33. Design a URL shortener with scalability considerations.
34. Create a low-latency chat application architecture.
35. Design a system that can handle 1 million concurrent users.
36. Propose a microservices vs monolith decision for this case.
37. Design a payment gateway system with fault tolerance.
38. Explain database choices for high read vs high write workloads.
39. Design an event-driven architecture using message queues.
40. Explain trade-offs between REST, GraphQL, and gRPC.

🔹 5. Frontend Development Prompts

41. Build a responsive UI component using React/Vue/Angular.
42. Optimize this frontend app for performance and SEO.
43. Fix CORS and API integration issues in frontend code.
44. Convert this UI into accessible (WCAG-compliant) design.
45. Create a state management strategy for large frontend apps.
46. Improve page load speed and Lighthouse scores.
47. Refactor this frontend code to follow component-driven design.
48. Generate unit tests for frontend components.
49. Implement lazy loading and code splitting.
50. Debug hydration errors in SSR applications.

🔹 6. Backend Development Prompts

51. Design a secure authentication and authorization flow.
52. Implement JWT-based auth with refresh tokens.
53. Optimize database queries for high traffic backend APIs.
54. Create a rate-limiting strategy for APIs.
55. Handle idempotency in payment APIs.
56. Implement role-based access control (RBAC).
57. Design multi-tenant backend architecture.
58. Handle graceful shutdown in backend services.
59. Explain transaction isolation levels with examples.
60. Implement caching using Redis effectively.

🔹 7. DevOps, CI/CD & Cloud Prompts (Trending SEO Topic)

61. Create a CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions/Jenkins.
62. Write a Dockerfile optimized for production.
63. Convert this app to run in Kubernetes.
64. Explain blue-green vs canary deployments.
65. Optimize cloud costs for this architecture.
66. Write Terraform scripts for infrastructure setup.
67. Debug container startup failures.
68. Design a logging and monitoring strategy.
69. Set up auto-scaling rules in cloud infrastructure.
70. Secure cloud resources following best DevOps practices.

🔹 8. Testing & Quality Assurance Prompts

71. Generate unit tests with high coverage.
72. Write integration tests for this API.
73. Design test cases for edge scenarios.
74. Explain how to implement test-driven development (TDD).
75. Create mock data and test doubles.
76. Identify flaky tests and how to fix them.
77. Generate load and stress testing scenarios.
78. Write end-to-end tests using Playwright/Cypress.
79. Improve test execution speed.
80. Explain mutation testing with examples.

🔹 9. Security & Best Practices Prompts

81. Perform a security audit on this codebase.
82. Identify OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities.
83. Secure APIs against SQL injection and XSS.
84. Implement secure password storage.
85. Explain CSRF protection mechanisms.
86. Design a secure file upload system.
87. Handle secrets management properly.
88. Implement OAuth 2.0 flow correctly.
89. Secure microservices communication.
90. Explain zero-trust architecture.

🔹 10. Career, Productivity & Advanced Prompts

91. Act as a senior software mentor and guide code improvement.
92. Explain this concept in simple terms with real examples.
93. Prepare system design interview questions and answers.
94. Optimize developer workflow for maximum productivity.
95. Convert this solution into interview-ready explanation.
96. Compare two approaches and suggest the best trade-off.
97. Rewrite this code as if teaching a junior developer.
98. Generate technical documentation automatically.
99. Suggest learning roadmap for mastering this technology.
100. Review my project and suggest production-grade improvements.