An AI Coding Bot That’s More Than a Coding Assistant
Play Video about This Coding Bot would change the way programmer code today
As an engineer myself, I am always on the lookout for new tools and technologies that can enhance the programming experience. This quest led me to AIDER, an AI coding bot that promises to transform how we write and manage code. After spending some time with AIDER, I can confidently say that it goes beyond being a mere coding assistant rather it’s a GPT-Engineer. Check out the above video for a quick tour of the tool.
The Power of Coding with Prompts
Coding with prompts is a powerful approach that leverages the potential of AI. By providing prompts, developers guide the AI in generating specific code, saving valuable time and reducing the risk of errors. It’s like having a conversation with your code, resulting in a more interactive, efficient, and accurate coding experience.
AIDER: A New Dimension in Coding with Prompts
AIDER is an Opensource Project that elevates the concept of coding with prompts. Unlike conventional tools that merely autocomplete your code, AIDER uses prompts to fully generate code within your IDE. This means that AIDER isn’t just a tool; it’s your personal developer bot, capable of generating APIs, apps, and anything else you need. AIDER goes beyond just code generation. It can commit your newly created code to Git, generate the necessary tests, and guide you through the debugging process.
Setting Up AIDER
Getting started with AIDER is straightforward. You begin by creating a new Python project folder in your IDE. In my case, I used VS Code and named the folder aider_dev. However, you’re free to choose any name that suits your project.
Next, you need to open the terminal and create a Conda/Python environment. Install AIDER using pip as per the instructions provided. Don’t forget to use your OpenAI key to activate the bot. While GPT-3 can provide a decent starting point, I recommend using GPT-4 for the best experience.
To Start the AIDER in the terminal use –
aider --openai-api-key=<your api key>As soon as AIDER is set up, you can start leveraging its capabilities. Unlike traditional coding assistants that only autocomplete code, AIDER generates complete code based on your requirements.
In my case, I asked AIDER to create a Python UK mortgage calculator API. To my surprise, AIDER generated the complete API code at lightning speed. It even committed the code to Git without any prompting. This was a new level of autonomy that I had not experienced with any other AI coding bot.
Debugging, Testing & Enhancing Existing Code
What sets AIDER apart from other AI coding bots is its ability to enhance existing code. AIDER uses Universal C Tags to scan, analyze, and improve your existing code.
For example, when I created another fresh python env & setup AIDER and asked it to enhance the security of my existing mortgage API code. AIDER was able to read and then identify potential improvements and implement them based on my prompts. This feature allowed me to enhance my code with minimal effort.
The Coding Bot doesn’t stop at code generation. It also guides you through the debugging process. During my experiment, AIDER generated the necessary tests and helped me debug the code like a professional coder. This is a feature that I believe will be extremely useful for both beginner and experienced developers.
Deployment with AIDER
When it was time to deploy my project, this AI Coding Bot came to the rescue again. It provided me with exact setup instructions for deploying my code on AWS Lambda.
The Future of AI Coding Bots
My experience with AIDER has been nothing short of revolutionary. It’s more than a coding assistant – it’s a complete package that simplifies coding, debugging, testing, and deployment.
If you are a programmer or an engineer you must elevate your coding experience with this revolutionary AI coding bot. With AI coding bots like AIDER, the future of programming is already here, and it’s incredibly exciting & terrifying at the same time.
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