Prompting Types
- Zero-shot: Instruction only, no examples.
- One-shot: One example demonstrates expected behaviour.
- Few-shot: A small number of examples guide difficult decisions.
- Negative examples: Show what Claude should NOT identify.
- Contrastive examples: Show why one similar case is correct and another is not.
When to Use Few-Shot Prompting
- Ambiguous classification.
- Sarcasm or mixed sentiment.
- Subjective boundaries.
- Important edge cases.
Good pattern: Use 2–4 diverse examples including at least one difficult edge case.
Reducing False Positives
Use explicit and measurable criteria instead of instructions such as “flag anything suspicious.”
Example: “Flag functions longer than 50 lines” is better than “flag overly complex functions.”
Exam Traps
- Temperature 0 improves consistency, not correctness.
- Few-shot examples guide behaviour but do not guarantee enforcement.
- Critical business rules should be implemented programmatically.
Memory: Ambiguity → examples. Hard rule → code.
