GitHub Copilot or Amazon CodeWhisperer: Which AI Coding Assistant to choose in 2024?

Given the rapid rise of AI, the quest for the perfect AI-powered ally in programming has become more exhilarating than ever! As developers navigate the intricate web of algorithms and syntax, the demand for intuitive, time-saving tools has surged.

Now imagine having an AI-powered assistant that not only understands your code but anticipates your next move – a seamless collaboration between human ingenuity and artificial intelligence.

GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot, a collaborative creation of GitHub and OpenAI, stands as an innovative AI-driven code completion tool meticulously crafted to enhance developers’ coding efficiency. 

Leveraging the power of the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) language model, it is a code editor extension that delivers real-time suggestions, auto-completions, and context-aware code generation.

Unveiled in 2021 through a collaborative effort involving GitHub, OpenAI, and Microsoft, GitHub Copilot emerged as a trailblazer in the realm of AI coding assistants, solidifying its position as the most sought-after solution in 2024.

Some of the features of GitHub Copilot are:

• Supports multiple programming languages: Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Ruby, Scala, Go, and more are seamlessly accommodated.
• Facilitates descriptive comments for coding tasks: Developers can articulate intentions with comments like “# Resize an image” or “# Connect to a database,” receiving code suggestions with confidence scores and alternatives.
• Enhances coding speed and efficiency: Offers suggestions for functions, loops, tests, imports, and more, aiding in bug fixing, performance optimization, and code refactoring.
• Integrates with Visual Studio Code: Seamlessly operates with one of the world’s most popular code editors and GitHub Codespaces, enabling cloud-based development.

Amazon CodeWhisperer

AWS CodeWhisperer, a brainchild of Amazon Web Services (AWS), emerges as a cutting-edge AI-driven tool meticulously designed to streamline the application development process, with a specific focus on the AWS cloud environment.

It is a cloud-based service that helps developers find the best code snippets from a large repository of open-source projects. It uses natural language processing and semantic search to understand the developer’s intent and context and provide relevant code suggestions. 

Among the freshest entrants in the realm of AI coding assistants, Amazon CodeWhisperer has swiftly risen to prominence, earning coveted status as one of the most sought-after tools, according to the latest Stack Overflow developer survey.

Some of the features of AWS CodeWhisperer are:

• Support for Diverse Languages: Python, Java, C#, JavaScript, Ruby, and more are seamlessly supported.
• Natural Language Queries: Developers can ask questions like “How to sort a list in Python?” or pose queries like “How can I connect to a Java database?” and get tailored code snippets, including their origin, ratings, and details regarding usage.
• Code Snippet Evaluation: Developers can assess code quality, reliability, and popularity through source information, ratings, and usage frequency. It encourages user feedback, allowing ratings, comments, and suggestions for continuous improvement.
• IDE Integration: Seamlessly integrates with popular code editors and IDEs such as Visual Studio Code, Eclipse, PyCharm, and more. Additionally, it is compatible with AWS Cloud9, a cloud-based IDE, providing flexibility in coding environments.

AWS Power and Scalability: Leverages the robust infrastructure of AWS, ensuring a secure and reliable service capable of handling large query volumes and diverse code snippets.

AI Coding Assistants Actually At Work In Real Life Scenario

Let’s start with a simple scenario. Imagine you are working on a web app that allows users to upload and share photos. 

Now, you want to write a function that resizes an image to a given width and height while preserving the aspect ratio. How would you do it?

If you are using GitHub Copilot, you could simply type a comment describing what you want to do, and the tool will generate a code suggestion for you.

For example, you could write:

Python

And GitHub Copilot will suggest:

Pretty impressive, right? But what if you are using Amazon CodeWhisperer? How would it help you with the same task?

Amazon CodeWhisperer works differently from GitHub Copilot. Instead of generating code suggestions based on comments, it uses natural language queries to help you find the best code snippets from a large repository of open-source projects.

For example, you could ask:

Amazon CodeWhisperer will show you a list of code snippets that match your query, along with their source, rating, and usage. For example, you could see:

As you can see, the code snippet is the same as the one suggested by GitHub Copilot. 

But you also get some additional information, such as the source of the code, the rating by other developers, and the usage frequency, which can help you evaluate the quality and reliability of the code and also learn from other sources.

So, which tool is better: GitHub Copilot or Amazon CodeWhisperer? Next comes the answer!

Comparative Analysis of the AI Coding Assistants: GitHub Copilot vs Amazon CodeWhisperer

So you see, in the dynamic world of coding, AWS CodeWhisperer and GitHub Copilot emerge as digital companions, accelerating the coding journey with finesse and flair.

AWS CodeWhisperer and GitHub Copilot are both AI-powered coding tools that can help developers write code faster, easier, and smarter. However, they have different features and functionalities that suit different types of developers and projects.

While AWS CodeWhisperer is a cloud-based service that helps developers find the best code snippets from a large repository of open-source projects, GitHub Copilot is a code editor extension that helps developers write code from scratch or complete existing code. 

So, developers should choose the one that best fits their needs and preferences when navigating this digital duet of selecting the right AI coding assistant.

Summing Up

We hope you enjoyed reading our article on GitHub Copilot vs. Amazon CodeWhisperer, two of the most innovative AI coding assistants in 2024. 

Here, we’ve shown you how these tools can help you write code with natural language queries or comments and their unique features and perks.

However, selecting the right AI coding assistant depends on your unique development needs and preferences. So we recommend you try them out for yourself and see which works better for you!

But then again, selecting the right programming language before starting any project is the most important thing to make any project successful. Then based on the programming language support it provides, you can determine the coding assistant. 

And if you don’t want to get into all these choosing the right language, assistant, and all, it’s Klizo Solutions you need! 

Klizos has the expertise and hands-on experience to successfully carry out the most challenging coding job for you, that, too, at a competitive price. Contact us today, and let us help you achieve your coding goals with AI. 

Thank you for reading, and happy coding!