AI programming
The world of programming has been turned upside down in recent months by the advent of artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools that assist programmers in various aspects of their work.
The Players:
- Microsoft GitHub Copilot: The first in time and one of the most popular, it offers real-time context-based code suggestions, completing the programmer’s work and saving them precious time. It costs $10 per month for regular users and €19 per month for business profiles.
- Amazon CodeWhisperer: Similar to Copilot, it is newer and free. It supports 15 programming languages and integrates with several popular IDEs. An interesting feature facilitates attribution to open source code, avoiding plagiarism and licensing issues. In addition, it can help improve code security by identifying and fixing bugs.
- OpenAI ChatGpt: Although not specifically designed for programming, it is used by many developers for code documentation and general text generation.
- Google Duet: A complete assistant that goes beyond programming, offering support for coding, source citation, test coverage, API design and publishing, application migration and modernization, and more. It integrates with major IDEs and costs $30 per month.
- Meta CodeLlama: A free open source model available in three different sizes. It can generate code and natural language from code requests or natural language, and is also useful for code completion and debugging. It supports many popular programming languages.
The Impact on the Future of Programming:
The emergence of these tools presents new challenges and opportunities for the world of programming.
- Less manual coding, more creativity and vision: Programmers could focus more on design and the big picture, leaving the AI to handle the most repetitive and automatable part of the work.
- Training a new generation of programmers: The skills required of programmers may change, requiring a greater emphasis on collaboration with AI, understanding its workings, and the ability to identify and correct its errors.
- Attention to “technical debt”: Over-reliance on AI-generated code could lead to the accumulation of “technical debt”, i.e. low-quality code with bugs, malfunctions and vulnerabilities. It is essential to use these tools with caution and care.
Conclusions:
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the world of programming, opening up new avenues for automation and efficiency. However, it is important to proceed with caution and awareness of the potential risks. Collaboration between man and machine will be the key to making the most of this technology and building a better future for programming.
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