AI-Powered Tools That Doubled My Development Speed

As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time in the Software industry. Over time, I've always been on the lookout for tools and techniques that can help me:

• Boost my productivity
• Reduce bugs in my code
• Write less but achieve more

In this post, I'll be sharing some of the AI-powered tools that have helped me improve my JavaScript productivity. I'll be sharing my personal experiences with each tool, including their strengths and weaknesses. So buckle up, and let's dive in!

Copilot by GitHub

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered code assistant that helps you write code faster.

I've used Copilot with TypeScript, JavaScript, Dart, and Python. There were moments when it felt like it read my mind and generated exactly what I wanted - it was amazing! However, these moments were rare, like a few times in a month.

Most of the time, its performance was hit or miss. It doesn't know your codebase, and often guesses function names incorrectly. There were instances where it created code with subtle bugs which forced me to spend extra time analyzing its output.

Despite these shortcomings, Copilot is pretty decent at generating simple repetitive patterns and auto-completing documentation.

GPT-Engineer

GPT-engineer is an AI tool that promises to speed up the app development process. I decided to test it by trying to create an Express app using GPT 3.5.

At first, it seemed promising. It laid out a clear architecture, chose the right frameworks, and even structured the code neatly. But the excitement was short-lived as the code it churned out was below par, and I couldn't get the app to start.

I thought upgrading to GPT-4 might help, and while it did give slightly improved results, it still fell short of creating a fully functional app. So, while GPT-engineer shows promise, it's safe to say it's not quite up to handling serious coding tasks just yet.

Cody AI

Cody AI is an AI-powered coding assistant that I've been using in VSCode for some time now. It's transformed my coding experience in several ways:

- It's excellent at breaking down code blocks into simple summaries. This is super handy when I'm reviewing code from other projects or need a quick refresher on my own work.
- It's clever at filling in the blanks in log statements, error messages or code comments.
- It cuts out the need for copy-pasting by filling in gaps for common patterns.
- Surprisingly, it's pretty good at creating tests.

However, When writing in markdown, its suggestions tend to be long-winded and always positive - getting a negative sentence out of it is almost impossible! Also, its inline suggestions can sometimes be a nuisance as it doesn't really "get" your code.

Despite these drawbacks, Cody AI has been a huge help when translating my code into English and constructing tests - making it an indispensable tool in my toolkit.

React Agent

React Agent is an AI tool designed to help with building React components. I tried using it to build a basic state management component for a React app.
It did churn out some code that I could use, but it frequently missed out on some of my specifications or dropped features that it had added earlier. It required a lot of hand-holding and attention to detail, which didn't save me much time.

As it stands now, the code produced by React Agent isn't ready for production and needs a good amount of tweaking before it can be merged into an existing codebase. But it overall increased my productivity.

v0 by Vercel

v0 is an AI tool that generates UI designs. However, in my experience, it creates mediocre UI with questionable usage of Tailwind CSS.

Anything built with v0 either needs heavy modification or ends up looking like an amateur product. I do applaud the effort, but UI designs are intricate and dynamic. We're not quite at the point where AI can consistently produce top-notch UI designs yet, but It gives you a starting point for your UI.

Sweep AI

This tool tackles the biggest issue I've faced with development with AI assist - giving context to the existing app source when making new requests. The feature of delivering the output through a PR is a neat addition. I've already made a few PRs using this. Sure, I had to make minor adjustments manually before merging them, but it certainly saved me a good half an hour.

ScriptGPT

ScriptGPT is a tool I created that is designed to offload feature development to an AI agent powered by GPT4. It's tailored specifically for TS/JS projects, automatically installing required libraries, testing code, adding comments, and more.

Unlike other AI-powered coding tools like GitHub Copilot and GPT-Engineer, which struggle with effective code integration and building complex projects, ScriptGPT excels in these areas. It can be used alongside these tools for writing code while offloading specific project features to ScriptGPT.

As the creator of this project, I might be a bit biased in my assessment. While it's not perfect, and there's always room for improvement, I truly believe that ScriptGPT can be a valuable addition to a developer's toolkit. Give it a try and see how it can improve productivity! GitHub Repository:https://github.com/ukanwat/scriptgpt/

In a Nutshell

AI tools aren't perfect yet. They sometimes make mistakes, and they can't always understand what you are trying to do. But they're getting better all the time; in the future, they will be more powerful and helpful. They'll be able to understand your code even better, and they'll be able to generate even more creative ideas.

Share Your Thoughts

Missed any cool AI tools? Tell me your faves or awesome ones I might've missed!
I'd also like to hear your thoughts & suggestions - I'm always looking to improve :)

Also published here.