You might have heard us talk about WordPress and Artificial Intelligence in our previous blog posts. In recent times, AI has been evolving to a point where it can help with many things, like protecting your WordPress installation, monitoring its performance, or even helping create content like blog posts, images, and many more.
Another area that AI impresses is the ability to help in the website-building process. There are already some tools that can help with that, and we expect the list to grow significantly in the near future.
The next important topic based on artificial intelligence is the AI code generators that have surfaced online and can make a developer’s life relatively easy – or at least – easier!
This blog post will explain what AI code generators are and how they work. We’ll showcase their benefits and types and provide an overview of some of the top AI code generators for developers for this year.
We’ll also discuss choosing the right one for your project needs and goals. With this information in hand, you can leverage these powerful tools to create better projects with less effort!
Let’s dig in!
- So, What are AI Code Generators?
- Top AI Code Generators for Developers in 2023
- How to Choose the Right AI Code Generator
So, What are AI Code Generators?
AI code generators are software tools that leverage artificial intelligence algorithms and use natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms to create automated code generation processes.
The most evident benefit is that these tools offer an innovative way to automate code writing, optimize the development process, and improve the software development efficiency of a fellow human developer. The AI code produced by these tools might make the integration process far more straightforward.
How AI Code Generators Work
Most AI code generators work by analyzing existing code and identifying patterns and structures in the code. Based on these patterns and structures, the code generator can create new code optimized for the specific project requirements.
AI code generators use machine learning models to improve code accuracy and quality. These models learn and improve over time by analyzing hundreds or thousands of lines of code a day, allowing the tool to better understand the language and structure of the code.
Types of Code Generators
There are two main types of code generators: template-based and neural network-based.
Template-based code generators use pre-built code templates that developers can modify to fit their needs. These templates provide a basic framework for the code, allowing developers to focus on customization and optimization. This means that a developer must be able to complete the code independently, so extensive knowledge is still necessary.
Neural network-based AI code generators use machine learning algorithms to analyze the code and create new code structures from scratch. These tools are a great addition to any developer since they can help review, test, or write pieces of code more quickly. These tools offer more flexibility and customization options because they can read the existing code and offer suggestions for improving or altering it based on the user’s input.
Neural network-based code generators are what we call “true AI code generators” and are mostly present on our list below.
So wrapping this section up, AI code generators offer a unique way to improve the software development process by automating code creation, reducing development time and costs, and increasing code accuracy and quality. With the rapidly evolving technology, AI code generators will become an essential tool for developers in the coming years.
The Top AI Code Generators for Developers in 2023
Now that we understand what AI code generators are and how they work let’s look at some of the top AI code generators available for developers in 2023.
We’ve gathered many platforms capable of not only code completion and generation but also code reviewing. Here are some of the most interesting ones.
Visual Studio IntelliCode
Developed by Microsoft, IntelliCode is an AI-powered code completion tool that offers an enhanced development experience for developers by providing intelligent recommendations for code completion, refactoring, and other tasks.
With the motto “type less, code more,” IntelliCode fuses machine learning algorithms into your workflow to learn from patterns in code and provide personalized suggestions and insights for every developer.
The feature is available in Visual Studio 2022 for C# projects, and it supports Python code completion in Visual Studio Code. Being available inside the Visual Studio IDE means the tool is free, even in the Community version.
GitHub’s Copilot
GitHub Copilot offers developers an AI-powered code assistant that helps them write better code and reduce the time spent on a project.
Dubbed the “AI programmer” by its developers, GitHub Copilot uses natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to give personalized suggestions tailored for each individual developer’s project.
The AI code assistant supports many programming languages like Go, JavaScript, Ruby, Python and Java. It’s also compatible with various editors like Visual Studio, Neovim, VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. Pricing starts at $10 per month, but there’s a free trial available if you want to get up close with the platform’s features.
ChatGPT
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has gained massive traction and popularity by offering its services for free in late 2022, providing plenty of opportunities to empower small businesses. It’s a powerful AI code generator that enables developers to create code in less time by automatically generating a shell of the code, with comments and best practices already integrated.
It can also analyze your existing code and suggest improvements to make it more efficient. You can also try and create code from scratch, with ChatGPT providing intelligent recommendations and guidance along the way.
While the service is free, ChatGPT Plus is available for anyone who wants priority access, even during peak times when the free version struggles with network traffic.
OpenAI Codex
Some of the platforms used above, including GitHub’s Copilot, are based on OpenAI’s Codex. OpenAI’s Codex is a cloud-based platform designed to help developers generate code more efficiently.
It offers increased accuracy, which is excellent news for developers seeking a good code-generation platform. OpenAI Codex provides various features and tools, including natural language translation, code optimization, and automated testing. By translating natural language to code, Codex can also offer pieces of code that can be seamlessly integrated into a project.
PolyCode
Publicly available on GitHub, PolyCode is a powerful AI code generator that comes with many pre-trained models in 12 programming languages, including C, C++, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Ruby, TypeScript and many more. The most crucial part is that the open-source model can be integrated into many projects.
The developers claim that its code accuracy is sometimes better than Codex. The datasets currently offered on GitHub exceed the 200GB mark, and the models are constantly updated using powerful hardware.
CodeWP
For people building their websites on WordPress (us included), CodeWP is a perfect choice. It offers writing code in PHP, JavaScript and WooCommerce, making it compatible with the popular CMS, among many other applications.
As a bonus, CodeWP has an intuitive code editor that enables developers to write code quickly and efficiently. The tool also can help with issues you face, and using its machine learning algorithms, it can make suggestions and improve the developer’s productivity.
The free plan has a 10 code generation per month limit but offers an inline code explanation, which is excellent news, especially for beginner software developers. The paid plans start from $12 per month and can reach up to $36 per month – if used by bigger companies or agencies.
WPCode
With a similar name to the one above, WPCode is a code generator specifically designed for WordPress users. It promises to slash the development time by a significant margin. It’s equipped with an intuitive interface with code snippets and advanced code revisions while it lets you keep your own snippet library.
Isotropic, the company behind WPCode’s development, wants to provide high-quality code snippets to everyone, but the code generator seems to only support HTML, PHP, JavaScript and CSS.
It doesn’t come with a free version, and the basic plan costs $49 monthly, covering only one website. Compared to the other solutions on this list, WPCode seems more limited and focused on WordPress, but some of its features based on HTML or CSS could be reused on other projects.
Hugging Face
Taking its name from the well-known emoji, Hugging Face offers a unique approach to AI code generation by providing community-based pre-trained models that can be fine-tuned to generate new code. Hugging Face is used by over 5,000 organizations, proudly presented by its developers.
These models are trained on various tasks, such as language modelling and text classification, allowing developers to generate quality code faster and more accurately.
Hugging Face aims to simplify coding by applying machine learning models with good intent – meaning to make the developers’ jobs easier and not replace them.
Pricing varies, but you can expect the free plan to cover unlimited models and datasets, while paid options can get up to $9 monthly.
CodeGenius
CodeGenius is an AI-powered code generator that uses natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to automate code creation, but it’s currently in waitlist mode, so little is known about its effectiveness.
This tool can generate code for various programming languages, such as Python, Java, and Ruby, making it a versatile tool for these programming languages.
CodeT5
The AI code generator, CodeT5, is a tool that allows developers to create AI-generated code for their projects. The tool uses natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms to understand the requirements of a project and generate the best possible code, all based on pre-trained models.
The platform provides an easy-to-use graphical interface that can be integrated easily by reading GitHub’s documentation. It’s now on Hugging Face, the AI platform we also feature in this article.
TabNine
This tool promises to autocomplete your code in the same way that a human would. It can generate code for various programming languages like C++, Python, and Java. TabNine and it’s considered “an AI assistant for developers.”
The code generated by TabNine is based on your project’s context and the features you’ve used. It offers a unique approach to AI code generation, which helps developers write code faster and more accurately.
While full code insertion is its most unique feature, it’s only available on the paid versions starting at $12 per month. The free version gets short code completions instead.
Mutable.ai
Shaving time from software development can yield many positives, and that’s precisely where Mutable will help. It’s equipped with AI-accelerated code generation algorithms and promises to increase developer efficiency by up to 50%.
Mutable is another platform that uses NLP and machine learning to increase software engineers’ productivity and satisfaction, as their official website notes. It’s considered a Copilot alternative and offers auto-complete functionality for various programming languages, such as Java, Python, Typescript, Rust and Solidity.
Again, we find a free plan with “manual suggestions” based on your input, while the paid versions that start at $10 per month come with automatic code recommendations.
AskCodi
AskCodi is a well-known AI code assistant available across various platforms. The use of natural language processing and machine learning aims to boost code generation from user prompts.
The vast programming language is completed with support for the most used IDEs available, inducing VS Code, Sublime Text, PyCharm and others. AskCodi also offers a free version with 100 responses per month.
DeepCode by Snyk
Created by a group of machine learning experts, DeepCode offers an AI-powered code review and security tool that uses machine learning algorithms to provide fast and accurate code analysis.
Snyk, an application security company, has bought the DeepCode project and offers the services for free (as before) with certain limitations and under the Snyk Code product name. At the same time, some plans cost $3.100 yearly.
By detecting errors and bugs, DeepCode helps improve a project’s code quality while ensuring it’s secure and optimized. The online software uses thousands of open-source projects available online and holds an extensive database of code under its umbrella.
The AI tool can find errors in your code and highlight them for easy access. It supports many programming languages like C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Python and TypeScript.
How to Choose the Right AI Code Generator
From all these options, choosing the right AI code generator involves considering several factors affecting project requirements, goals, and budget. Most tools use pre-trained models that generate code based on other projects online, but some go one step further and analyze the user’s code and react/answer based on the project’s requirements.
Most developers have particular needs, while others are more flexible, which can impact our choice. Here are some of the most important things to consider when choosing an AI code generator.
Consider Your Development Needs and Goals
To choose the right AI code generator, developers should assess their development needs and goals, such as the type of project, programming language, development environment, and desired level of automation.
For instance, some AI code generators specialize in tasks like code completion or bug detection only, while others offer more comprehensive code generation functionality.
Some tools may be more suitable for particular programming languages or complete frameworks, so choosing a tool that fits the project requirements is essential and should be considered right from the beginning.
Evaluate the Capabilities of the Code Generator
When evaluating an AI code generator, critical factors include accuracy and whether the tool can generate high-quality code. Then it’s the ease of use, integration with development tools (IDEs), customization options, and customer support through forums or directly.
Testing the tool’s functionality and features using sample code or real-world scenarios is advisable to check whether it meets your project requirements.
Look for User Reviews and Ratings
To get a better idea of the performance and reliability of an AI code generator, developers should read user reviews online. User reviews provide feedback from other developers who have used the platform or tool, highlighting its strengths, weaknesses, and limitations.
User ratings can help determine whether the tool is widely accepted in the developer community or has received any reviews, positive or negative, and why.
Consider the Cost and Availability
Finally, developers must consider the cost and availability of the AI code generator. While some AI code generators are free, others may require monthly or yearly fees.
Developers should check the tool’s availability and whether it supports the desired platform or operating system they want to work on. Furthermore, it’s essential to consider whether the cost of the tool is worth the benefits it provides regarding project needs and overall productivity. If you’re going to use it for one project only, then it’s probably not worth the effort and money. It’s a viable option only if you’re planning to use this tool for other projects too.
Choosing the right AI code generator is critical to improving software development efficiency and quality. By considering the project requirements, evaluating the tool’s capabilities, reading user reviews and ratings, and assessing costs and availability, developers can select the most suitable AI code generator for their project needs.
Therefore, it’s essential to make a well-informed decision to leverage the power of AI in software development.
Conclusion
AI code generators are powerful tools that can help developers save time and money while improving the accuracy, quality, and flexibility of their code. Almost all of these code generators are trained using open-source code available on GitHub repositories or elsewhere and are capable of producing code comparable to an average programmer, according to multiple sources.
With a wide range of AI-based solutions available on the market today, it’s important to take into account your development needs and goals before choosing an AI code generator. By evaluating what it can offer you, reading user reviews and ratings, and assessing costs and availability (most of the tools fall into the “free” category), you can find the right tool for your project requirements.
So don’t hesitate to try one of these top code generators for your next software development project!
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