5 Key Ways AI Improves Programmers

Aug 12

We should face facts. AI isn’t going to mean that every programmer in the world will be fired.

It’s going to mean that the best programmers get better.

To clarify this thought the best programmers in the future will not necessarily be the same programmers who are the best now.

The sooner you get on the AI train the better. And here is why.

The Ways AI can improve programming

Automated code generation

AI can generate code based on written specifications. These specs can be written in natural English (or other languages, which is cool) and the code will conform to those specs.

It isn’t the fact that the code can be generated. It’s the fact that boilerplate code can be spewed out without having to waste your precious brainpower (and life force) on repetitive tasks.

You can then unlock your superpowers:

proven solving
unlocking complexity
working with people

Why mention working with people? The best software developers work alone.

Intelligent Code Completion

AI offers real-time code completion as you type. It’s like having superpowered fingers, just like Brian May but in a different way. You can forget about forgetting about exact syntax as your ride the Tab button.

Experts don’t need that, but code completion still helps speed code writing and minimizes typos and syntax errors.

Predictive Bug Detection

All that time you spend hunting down bugs in your code. Worse your testers (or devops, project manager or whatever. I’m not in your team) are spending time finding bugs.

Imagine a future where bugs are caught as they happen, which means right when you are writing the code. They never come to fruition as they’re caught right away.

You’ll be assisted in finding your mistakes before they even are mistakes.

I don’t make mistakes, thank you please. Now go away.

Documentation Generation

Ever struggled with updating documentation? If you’re one of the code monkeys that I work with you may well think that documentation is a few comments spread in the code — I’m here to tell you that code still needs to be updated as and where necessary.

We should be letting AI sort this out. Documentation which is always up to date? Sounds good to me, and your boss will appreciate the increased productivity which would be nice all around.

I can’t be either more productive or more awesome. True story.

Software Testing

Didn’t you know you should be writing the tests before the code? Use AI to help you code “the right way”. This clearly leads to reliable software, and ultimately happy customers.

If you don’t code right, you shouldn’t be coding at all.

Conclusion

Look. AI can’t improve perfection. It shouldn’t even try. If you need to use AI to code, you shouldn’t be coding.

The Secret Developer