Claude Code is Claude turned into a hands-on worker. It runs in the terminal (see CLI), can read and edit the files in a project, run commands, fix what breaks, and keep going until the task is done. You describe what you want; it does the work and shows you the result.
It started as a tool for professional developers and then something unexpected happened: non-technical people adopted it. Because it acts rather than just advises, it lets someone with no coding background build a real website or tool by having a conversation. This entire site is maintained that way.
Why you keep hearing it
Because it became one of the defining tools of the AI building wave, alongside Cursor and Lovable, and the builder crowd talks about it constantly. It is also the reference example of an agent: plan, act, check, continue.
What it means for you
Claude Code sits at the more capable, less hand-holding end of the building spectrum: more power than describe-and-done tools, more raw than a polished app builder. If you are curious, start with a low-stakes personal project. The learning curve is mostly about trusting the loop: ask, watch it work, react.