5 neural networks that help developers program
In the near foreseeable future, AI will help humans in more and more industries. Including, of course, development. As you know, there are already neural networks that can provide good assistance to programmers. In this collection we will talk about five such neurons. We won’t mention the most popular of them, GitHub Copilot, since everyone already knows about it. Details about the other five tools are under the cut.
Codeium
A neural network, which, judging by user reviews, significantly speeds up the work process. She is able to both add code and offer ready-made tools. In addition, it can review code and generate basic documentation.
The model uses generative artificial intelligence technology to predict the direction of work and suggest lines of code based on both context and the user's own syntax.
Judging by the reviews, the performance of the neural network is excellent, it is in no way inferior to “colleagues” like Copilot, Tabnine, Replit Ghostwriter, etc. The main positive aspect of the neural network is the context search system – context aware everything, which allows you to solve several problems at once:
natural language and language analysis using docstrings
context fragmentation depending on the request
hybrid search for rare entities
The neural network supports popular development environments; there is also an extension that allows you to work from a browser. The languages that Codeium is familiar with are C#, C, Python, CSS, Go, Groovy, Kotlin.
Codeium costs $12 per user if the entire team subscribes. For other categories – everything is free.
Tabnine
Like the previous tool, this neuron will not do all the work for the user. It allows you to add code based on a ready-made part. The distinctive point is that the neural network is able to adapt to the style and working methods of an individual. She analyzes the individual features of the code and writes what is left in approximately the same style.
Neuron is quite universal, it works with C#, C, Python, PHP, Ruby, Kotlin, plus supports the most common frameworks and libraries: React, Sass and Matlab. Also integrates with VSCode, Atom, Sublime Text, Vim and other popular code editors.
Additional features of Tabnine:
real-time training. The developers claim that this neural network uses reinforcement learning to gradually improve the quality of its work.
Integration with various code editors: Tabnine integrates with most popular code editors, including VSCode, Atom, Sublime Text, Vim and others
work without the Internet. Tabnine is also available locally, without the need to connect to a remote server
According to those who have tried the neuron in action, it is ideal for novice programmers who need a quick and simple solution for code completion.
The cost is $12 per month. There is a free option, but it has many restrictions. A trial period of 14 days is also provided.
AskCodi
And this is a chatbot for programmers, in which the main functions are available directly in the browser. The authors of the project state that the most typical use of the service is as a reference book.
At the same time, the service supports popular development environments, and new ones are constantly being added. In some, including, for example, Visual Studio or IntelliJ IDEA, AskCodi is built in as an extension.
The service has two main modules – chat and the so-called. “workbook”. You can ask the bot to optimize ready-made code, convert individual procedures or functions.
In the “workbook,” the user can ask to generate code in one of the supported languages, explain ready-made code (the tool gives good explanations of what specific code fragments do), or write a comment on some section. Moreover, the neuron can translate code from one language to another, although, according to users, there are also problems.
Works with languages such as Python, C, Java, JavaScript, Lua, Rust.
Tariffs start from $8.3. There is also a free package, but with a certain number of restrictions.
Documatic
This neural network, based on a text request from the encoder, can generate documentation for the code, which is the main skill of the neuron. In addition, Documatic can give a succinct and clear answer about the features of its own code – for example, how certain functions work. To create documentation, Documatic analyzes both code comments and structure. If necessary, a neural network can also explain how the entire code works, and not its individual sections.
If documentation is written, Documatic can improve its quality because it is trained on a large code base and is able to generate more accurate and consistent descriptions.
The service “knows” Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Golang, Java. Only business users and ordinary developers who work individually will have to pay, everything is free.
Mintlify
And one more service created for automatic generation of documentation. It is very user friendly, those who tested it say that there are no problems understanding how everything works. The service supports 12 programming languages at once, including Python, JavaScript and PHP.
To create a description of a function, you need to select it and click on the Generate Docs button – the neural network will do everything itself: a description of the meaning of the function, its parameters, etc. It is worth noting that only VS Code and IntelliJ IDEA are supported. There are no plugins for other IDEs yet.
According to the developers, the service can significantly speed up the process of writing and documenting code, since it does everything quickly and, most importantly, correctly.
