What is AI code generation?
AI code generation is artificial intelligence technology that writes and completes code for you. Using natural language, you can make specific feature or functional requests, and AI generates the necessary code. AI coding tools integrate with your existing codebase and automate other development tasks like bug fixing, vulnerability scanning, and code optimization. AI code generation boosts developer productivity and streamlines the software development process.
Benefits of AI code generation
AI code generation tools do not replace developers. Instead, they assist development teams in focusing on creative and high-impact tasks while taking care of the more tedious aspects of software development.
How does AI code generation work?
You can think of AI code generation as pair programming with AI. An AI coding tool is like having a pair programmer always beside you that integrates within your IDE or coding environment and can look for information within your code base to suggests improvements, and collaborates on code, making development more efficient and interactive. Some tasks it can help you with are listed below.
Code generation
Your AI tool can generate code in various programming languages using natural language descriptions. You can explain desired functionality in natural language text. The AI "understands" your descriptions and generates contextually relevant code that follows established programming patterns and best practices. All generated code is highlighted, and it is up to you if you want to use the code as is, with modifications, or not at all.
Code completion
Your AI code generator is also an AI code completion tool. It can suggest code snippets as you type by predicting the next most likely code snippet based on the context. You must connect the tool to your code repositories for this functionality to work. Machine learning and deep learning technology in the code generator support prediction alongside code generation capabilities.
Code modernization
Code modernization is upgrading existing codebases from legacy frameworks or older versions to modern versions. Modernization tasks require developers to find and remove unsupported coding constructs in the new version. While most legacy codebases are functional and usable, a small percentage of legacy constructs impact the entire system. AI code generation tools can quickly find and highlight the code that needs removal. They can also generate the modern equivalent without disturbing variable names and other references. This speeds up modernization projects while maximizing code reuse.
Code translation
For some use cases, the codebase has to be translated into other programming languages — like for compatibility with new tools or to increase efficiency. Beyond replacing code statements from one language to another, code translation requires developers to refactor the codebase to maximize the benefits of the target language. Specific code designs may change or become unnecessary in the new programming language.
AI code generation tools reduce the complexity involved in code translation. They can automatically generate optimum code in the new language by reading functions in the old language. You can also improve design by providing natural language prompts that guide the AI translation process.
Code review
An AI code tool can also generate code based on existing code reviews and assessments. The tool scans your code for security vulnerabilities, bugs, and common coding errors. It then generates code that fixes or resolves those issues as needed. Automatic reviews and code improvement save developer time while maintaining code quality.