AI Coding Assistant, Explained Everything You Should Know

 Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to this article! Today, we are going to explore about one of the most exciting tools in the field of software development – ​​AI coding assistants. 

These powerful tools use artificial intelligence and Machine Learning to help programmers to write code faster and more efficiently. Here, we will explore the different AI coding assistants available in the market and will compare their features and functionalities. We will also discuss how these assistants can improve our productivity and efficiency in software development. So, let’s start!

What is an AI coding assistant?

An AI coding assistant is a type of software that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to help programmers write code faster and more efficiently. These assistants can offer code suggestions, fill in code pieces, or even generate entire code according to the instructions of developers. By using AI techniques, these assistants can analyze large amounts of existing code and learn patterns and best practices that they can apply when suggesting solutions or generating entirely new code. These tools can store the instructions of developers and latter on can suggest codes according to them.  

How AI Coding Assistant Works? 

As we can understand by the name AI Coding it mainly work by the Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence in its data base has various types of coding data sets and these data sets use deep learning algorithms to generate new coding. In a very simple way first you add some coding data in it and then AI algorithms will generate coding for you as per your requirements. AI Coding assistant work on the bases of stored or we can say on the data sets and algorithms will create the coding for you. Also it always refines itself to provide more accurately suggestions and solutions 

Further if you want to check more deeply that how AI Coding works please visit on https://dev.to/giladmaayan/what-is-an-ai-coding-assistant-gfd#:~:text=An%20AI%20coding%20assistant%20is,code%20refactoring%2C%20and%20documentation%20generation.

The 3 Best AI ​​Coding Assistance Tools

Now, let’s talk about which are the best tools who provides AI Coding Assistance. I will say the battle of AI coding assistants. Who are the competitors in this battle? We have three main assistants that are very popular in the developer community

 1. Tab Nine (formerly known as Kite) 

2. Co-Pilot from GitHub (developed by OpenAI)

3. Jet GPT from OpenAI.

 All of above AI coding assistants have unique features and advantages, so let’s take a closer look at each of them.

What is a Chatbot ? How does it works? Usage in Businesses

Tab Nine (Kite)

Let’s start with Tab Nine, also known as Kite. Tab Nine is one of the first AI coding assistants and has been on the market since 2013. The team behind Tab Nine develop this technology and has been developing and improving their assistant for over a decade. Tab Nine stands out for its unique features, such as lightning-fast code suggestions and an offline mode that allows you to work without an internet connection. However, it’s important to note that Tab Nine’s offline mode is currently not as powerful as its online mode, so it’s not the best choice if advanced functionalities are required. 

GitHub Co-Pilot (OpenAI)

The second biggest competitor is GitHub’s Co-Pilot, developed by OpenAI in collaboration with GitHub. Co-Pilot was launched in the summer of 2021 and quickly became one of the most popular AI coding assistants. Co-Pilot uses OpenAI’s Codex language model to offer code suggestions and complete code snippets in real time. One of Co-Pilot’s advantages is its tight integration with GitHub, allowing it to analyze millions of repositories and learn from best practices and common code patterns.

OpenAI Jet GPT

The final competitor is Jet GPT from OpenAI. Jet GPT is the newest AI coding assistant on the market and has been generating quite a buzz since its release in the fall of last year. Jet GPT uses advanced machine learning techniques to offer code suggestions and generate complete code based on the programmer’s input. Jet GPT stands out for its ability to explain code, making it a great resource for learning new programming techniques and concepts.

Differences between AI coding assistants

Now that we have introduced the competitors, it is time to look at the main differences between them. Let’s start with the costs. 

Tab Nine offers a free option as well as a monthly paid option. Co-Pilot is also paid and does not offer a free option. Jet GPT offers a free option but also has paid plans with additional features.

Functionality wise , Tab Nine and Co-Pilot are IDE plugins, meaning they run directly within your integrated development environment and have access to your existing code. Jet GPT, on the other hand, runs on a website or through an API, meaning it doesn't have direct access to your existing code and requires you to provide it with commands or queries to generate code.

Another important difference is the ability to generate documentation. Both Tab Nine and Co-Pilot are capable of generating documentation for your code, which can save you a lot of time and effort. Jet GPT, on the other hand, does not have this capability, as it focuses more on code creation and understanding.

Last but not least is privacy. Tab Nine prides itself on its focus on privacy and ensures that it does not store or share any code data. Co-Pilot and Jet GPT, on the other hand, store and use user data to improve their algorithms and deliver better results. This is important to keep in mind when choosing an AI coding assistant, especially if privacy is a concern for you or your organization.

Pricing of AI Coding Assistants

Let’s now talk about the Price of AI coding assistants.

· Tab Nine:

• Free option: Tab Nine Starter.
• Paid option: $19 per month.

· Co-Pilot:

• Subscription-based only.
• Individual plan: $10 per month.
• Commercial plan: Custom pricing.

· Jet GPT:

• Offers both free and paid plans.
• Free version limitations:
• Longer response times. 
• Restricted access to certain functionalities

Only for coding?

A common question that comes up when talking about AI coding assistants is whether they can only be used for programming tasks. The answer is no. While it is true that these assistants are specifically designed to help programmers write code, they can also be used for other tasks related to software development. For example, they can help with automated testing, documentation generation, code refactoring, and more. Additionally, some AI coding assistants, such as Jet GPT, can also be useful for natural language processing and text generation tasks.

The advantages of using AI coding assistants

Now that we have discussed the different AI coding assistants and their features, let’s look at some of the advantages of using these tools in our daily work:

• Efficiency and productivity: AI coding assistants can help us write code faster and more efficiently, allowing us to be more productive and meet tight deadlines.
• Suggestions and auto-completion: These tools offer code suggestions and automatically complete code snippets, which can save time and reduce errors.
• Best practices and code patterns: AI coding assistants are trained on large amounts of existing code and can offer suggestions based on best practices and common code patterns
• Continuous learning and improvement: These tools learn from our interaction and are constantly updated to deliver better results

The challenges of using AI coding assistants

While AI coding assistants are powerful tools, they also present some challenges that we need to be aware of:

• Over-reliance: If we rely too much on AI coding assistants, we risk losing our ability to think and solve problems independently.
• Lack of context: AI coding assistants can offer suggestions based on existing code patterns, but they can sometimes miss the specific context of our project or the unique needs of our code.
• Privacy and Security: When using AI coding assistants, we must ensure that our data is protected and that sensitive information is not shared or stored in an insecure manner.

The importance of privacy in AI coding assistants

Privacy is an increasingly important issue when it comes to using AI coding assistants. It is crucial to ensure that our data is protected and not shared or stored in an insecure manner. Tab Nine stands out in this regard, as it guarantees that it never stores or shares any code. Co-Pilot and Jet GPT, on the other hand, store and use user data to improve their algorithms and deliver better results. It is important to review the privacy and security policies of each AI coding assistant and make informed decisions about what data we are willing to share and how it will be used.

Who has used an AI code assistant?

Before we focus on comparing the different AI coding assistants, let’s ask a quick question: who has used one of these assistants in the last month? Raise your hands! Wow, it seems like close to 40% of the developers in this room have used an AI coding assistant in the last month. That’s really impressive. It seems like these tools are quickly gaining popularity. 

A Survey in 2023 showed result that over 80% of developers use AI Power Codes. Also more than 25% of codes that AI shows you are generated by AI and that number is increasing day by day. But that is also fact that most of the developers do not blindly trust on AI Coding. They also change some coding generated by AI so if you are thinking to be developer just by using AI is not possible today but will be in Future. 

An AI Coding Assistant Tool named GitHub Copilot has completed the required coding in less than half time compare to a human.   

Will AI coding assistants replace our jobs?

Now, an interesting question to ask: will AI coding assistants replace our jobs as software developers? Let me take a quick poll. Who thinks AI coding assistants will replace our jobs? Nobody! Well, that’s a relief. It seems like most people in this room don’t think AI coding assistants will replace us. And I agree. These tools are great at helping us be more efficient and productive, but we still require human creativity and knowledge to solve complex problems and develop innovative solutions.

A Forbes  Advisor Survey in 2023 found out that 77 % of people think that May be AI will replace the Jobs while 44 % of are sure that it will happen in future.

Conclusions

In short, AI coding assistants are powerful tools that can help us become more efficient and productive in our work as software developers. We’ve explored the different AI coding assistants available on the market, such as Tab Nine, Co-Pilot, and Jet GPT, and compared their key features and functionalities. While each has its own advantages and challenges, they are all capable of generating code suggestions and completing code snippets effectively. However, we also need to keep privacy and security in mind when using these tools, and ensure that our data is protected and used responsibly. Ultimately, choosing the right AI coding assistant will depend on our individual needs and preferences. So go ahead and try them out for yourself!