01 Stack Overflow Challenge: AI-Assisted Data Visualization

March 2026 (220 Words, 2 Minutes)

The Task

Your mission: Recreate the Stack Overflow questions-over-time chart using Python and AI coding tools.

Specifically:

1. Find the data programmatically. Where does the monthly question count data actually come from? Part of the challenge is figuring out how to access the raw numbers — and writing Python code that fetches the data rather than downloading it manually.

2. Reproduce the chart. Write a Python script that loads the data and produces a time series plot of monthly Stack Overflow question counts (2008 to 2024) with a 12-month rolling average.

3. Extend it. Overlay markers for key AI breakthroughs from the course’s Interactive AI Timeline. The breakthroughs to mark are:

   • Transformer (June 2017)
   • ChatGPT (November 2022)
   • GPT-4 (March 2023)
   • Cursor and AI IDEs (August 2023)
   • Claude Code (February 2025)
   • GitHub Copilot Agent Mode (February 2025)

   You choose how the markers look: vertical lines, annotations, icons, colored regions — be creative.

Why This Challenge

Two things to notice:

1. It is surprisingly doable with AI tools. With the right prompts and a coding assistant, you can go from zero to a working plot faster than you might expect.
2. Without structure, you will hit real obstacles. Data access is not trivial. Parsing decisions matter. Plot formatting is fiddly. AI-generated code will get you 80% of the way and then produce subtle bugs in the last 20%. Pay attention to where that boundary falls.

Teams

Form groups of 2-3.

Tools

You must use an AI coding assistant. GitHub Copilot (free for students) is the baseline. You may also use Claude Code (free tier) or any other AI coding tool. If you use multiple tools, record which one you used for which part.

Approach

You have maximum freedom. Use whatever approach feels natural. The only requirement: record every prompt you give to the AI tool, in whatever format works for your team (text file, markdown, screenshots, git commits). This is your first AI Diary entry — we will formalize the format in Lecture 2.

Deliverables

A GitHub repository containing:

• Python code that reproduces the Stack Overflow questions chart with AI milestone markers
• A record of every prompt you used (in any format)

Surveys

• Fill out the pre-challenge survey before you start
• Fill out the post-challenge reflection survey when you are done