Hi guys, if you're a programmer or aspiring to be one, you are probably familiar with challenges like coding the same basic things over and over, spending hours searching for errors, debugging, going back and forth with ChatGPT to solve doubts, and even adding comments to your code to explain what it does. But what if you had an assistant that can do all these things for you? Which is why in this article, I will share with you three of the best AI assistants for programmers. These AI assistants can complete your code as you type, find and fix errors for you, have a chatbot that solves your doubts, and even translate your code from one language to another.

Code::GPT

The first AI assistant that we are going to see is Code::GPT, and we will be using it in a code editor called VS Code.

Setup

To set up Code::GPT in VS Code, we are going to do three simple steps:

1. Open VS Code: Go to your desktop and open VS Code.
2. Install the Extension: Click on the extension icon and search for Code::GPT. Click on the extension and click Install.
3. Login and Set Up:
   • Click Login, then click Allow.
   • Sign up using your Google account.
   • Once the popup appears, it means that you're now logged in.
   • By default, this tool is in another language. To change it to English, click on the settings icon, go to Extension Settings, and change the language preference in all three options from default to English.

Now let's see the different features of Code::GPT.

Features

1. Code Autocomplete

This feature figures out what you're going to type and gives you suggestions to complete lines. Let's see how it works. We'll start with something simple like calculating the factorial of a number. As you start typing, you will see the suggestions which start to appear.

To accept the suggested code, just press Tab. It has automatically completed the main function, which is the part from where the code starts to run. Now, to get the input from the user, let's start typing the initial lines, and after the suggestion appears, press Tab to accept.

Another way to use this feature is to just type a comment describing in simple words what code you want, and you will see it suggest the code according to what you type.

For example: ```python

calculate the factorial of a number

It does take a few seconds for the suggestions to appear, but other than that, it does a good job in identifying what we want and it automatically generates the code.

#### 2. Code Explanation or Documentation

With this feature, you can select any part of your code and get an explanation for it right inside your IDE. It'll generate a detailed explanation for the code and even add comments to make it more readable. This is especially useful for beginners or even for students who are working on a complex code or learning a new concept.

To use it:
1.  Select a portion of the code.
2.  Right-click on it, go to **Code::GPT**, and click **Explain Code**.
It will generate an output explaining the code in detail, and it's completely correct.

If you want to add descriptive comments that explain what the code does and how it works, just select the code, right-click on it, go to **Code::GPT**, and click **Generate Comment**. This means that you don't have to keep looking up things on Google or asking ChatGPT; you can get your answers right here in your IDE.

#### 3. Code Debug

Sometimes we make mistakes like typos or missing semicolons while typing the code, which can take us hours to find. To fix this issue, we have a feature called code debug.

Here's how to use it:
1.  Select the entire code that has a bug.
2.  Right-click and go to **Code::GPT**.
3.  Click **Ask Code::GPT**.
4.  Here, type `/` and click **fix bug**.
In seconds, it debugged our code. Using this feature will save programmers a lot of time and energy.

#### 4. Chatbot

As the name suggests, it's a chatbot with which you can chat in English, ask any doubts, and even give it prompts to generate any code.

To use it, just click on the Code::GPT icon. Here you need to enter a prompt or a question. Let's ask it to generate the Python code for a Tic-Tac-Toe game. The code is generated in no time. Now, if we click **Insert** to get it into our file and click run, you can see that it is working properly without any errors. It's just like ChatGPT, except it's solely focused on programming.

#### 5. Code Translation

Let's say you have a code in Java but you want the same code in C++. Translating it manually will take a lot of time. This feature helps you translate code from one language to another.

Here's how it works:
1.  Go to the **Translation** section in Code::GPT.
2.  Select the code you want to translate.
3.  Click and select the language you want.
4.  Click on **Translate**, and it's done.
5.  Now just open the file where you want to insert this code and click **Insert**.

This is how you can translate your code from one language to another. In the same way, you can also change data from a JSON format to a CSV format or convert data between Excel and JSON formats, and so on.

These were the five main features of Code::GPT. All its responses were quite accurate, which makes it really useful for programmers in their everyday work. Also, Code::GPT is completely free, so you can go ahead and give it a try.

## GitHub Copilot

Now let's move on to the second AI assistant, which is GitHub Copilot. This AI assistant is a result of the collaboration between GitHub and OpenAI, which is why it works on OpenAI's Codex model. It supports 11 languages and works on multiple IDEs.

### Setup

Let's check it out in VS Code:
1.  Go to **Extensions** and search for `GitHub Copilot`.
2.  Click the first result and **Install** it.
3.  Click **Sign in**, then **Allow**.
4.  Click **Authorize** and then **Open VS Code**.

GitHub Copilot also has the same five features as Code::GPT, but the way of accessing them is a little different.

### Features

#### 1. Code Autocomplete

Let's type a code for a Fibonacci function. As you start typing, you can see the suggestion starts to appear. Press `Tab` to accept it.

```python
def fibonacci(n):
  if n <= 1:
    return n
  else:
    return(fibonacci(n-1) + fibonacci(n-2))

If you try to type a comment, you can see it gives suggestions for that too. All you have to do is press Tab, and it completes the comment as well as gives you the whole code.

2. Code Explanation

Similar to Code::GPT, to get an explanation of any code, just select the code, right-click on it, go to Copilot, and click Explain This. The explanation is generated.

To add comments or documentation in the code, just select the code, right-click on it, go to Copilot, click Generate Docs, and if you're satisfied with the suggestion, click Accept, and it will be added.

3. Code Debug

If we run a code and it throws an error, it means there's some bug. To debug it: 1. Select the code. 2. Right-click on it, go to Copilot, and click Fix This. A debugged code is generated. Let's click Accept, and it'll be added.

4. Chatbot

The chatbot also works similarly to Code::GPT's chat. Just click on the icon, and the chat box will appear. You can ask it any doubts you have or give it prompts to generate any code you want.

5. Code Translation

To use the code translation feature: 1. Select the code that you want to translate. 2. Press Ctrl+I. 3. Simply type "convert to Java" or any language you wish to convert to. 4. Press Enter, and it'll be translated just like that.

Additional Feature: @workspace

In addition to all these features, GitHub Copilot has an additional feature which no other AI assistant has. If you type @workspace, Copilot will navigate through your entire codebase and not just your currently open file. This means you can ask questions about anything from your project. For example, I can ask, "Can I change this check function of PostController into an API from web?" It will check all the files to understand our reference and give us the solution.

You can use GitHub Copilot's great features, which are faster and more accurate than others. Now, Copilot is a paid platform, but if you're a teacher or a student, you can get it for free. However, if you do not belong to this group and don't want to spend money on any paid plans, let me introduce you to another AI assistant that is as good as Copilot but is absolutely free.

Codium

It's called Codium. It supports more than 70 programming languages and works on 21 different IDEs.

Setup

Let's see how to set it up in VS Code: 1. Go to Extensions and search for Codium. 2. Select the first result and Install it. 3. Click Login and then Allow. You can install it in the same way we installed Code::GPT and GitHub Copilot. 4. Sign up with your Google account and click Open VS Code. You'll see a welcome popup, which means Codium is now set up.

Features

Just like Code::GPT and Copilot, Codium also has those five features.

1. Code Autocomplete

It works the same as in Code::GPT and Copilot. Just start typing, and as the suggestion appears, press Tab to accept them. You can also just add comments, and it'll work the same way.

2. Code Explanation

To use the code explanation feature, just select the code, right-click on it, and click Explain here. It'll generate the explanation. Now, to get the code documentation for this function, click here and then click Apply. Now click Accept, and it will be inserted into your code.

3. Code Debug

To use the debug feature in Codium: 1. Select a code which has a bug. 2. Right-click on it, then click the Codium option. 3. Now, here type "check for bug and fix it" and press Enter. As you can see, it has generated a debugged code. So just click Accept, and now if you run this code, you will see it's bug-free and works properly.

4. Chatbot

Let's check out Codium's chatbot. Again, it's similar to the previous chatbots and works the same, but it has this additional feature: if you type @function, you will see all the functions of your code. You can select any one and ask questions regarding it. This will save you a lot of time and help you in getting more accurate answers.

5. Code Translation

To translate a code from one language to another: 1. Select the code you want to translate. 2. Right-click on it and click the Codium option again. 3. Here, type "convert to C#" or whichever language that you want to translate your code into. 4. Finally, just press Enter, and as you can see, it has translated the code. Just click Accept to add it.

As I mentioned before, Codium is absolutely free for individual users, and that is why it is a great free alternative for Copilot.

So you can use these AI assistants and make coding a stress-free and fun job. Let us know in the comments below which one is your favorite and if you have used them before.