What Is Sourcegraph Cody?
Cody is an AI coding assistant. It provides AI-assisted autocomplete functionality, capable of completing single lines or entire functions across various programming languages, configuration files, or documentation.
Cody’s autocomplete capability integrates with multiple Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), including VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, and Neovim. Another notable feature is its AI-powered chat interface, designed to aid developers in navigating new projects, understanding legacy code, or solving complex coding issues. Cody chat can address a variety of queries, such as explaining repository structure, the functionality of specific files, defining components, or troubleshooting code errors.
Cody also offers custom and pre-built commands for generating, testing, and fixing code. It can generate unit tests, describe code smells, and optimize code for best practices. Additionally, Cody’s integration with Sourcegraph’s code search and analysis tools enables it to provide autocomplete, explanation, and code editing with enriched context.
This is part of a series of articles about AI tools for developers
Related content: Read our guide to code completion
7 Notable Sourcegraph Cody Alternatives
GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot is an AI pair programmer that provides coding assistance directly within the Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Developed by GitHub in collaboration with OpenAI, it uses a large language model (LLM) based on GPT-4 which was trained on a vast array of code repositories in multiple languages hosted on GitHub. Copilot offers real-time code suggestions as you type, capable of generating whole lines or blocks of code. It supports a wide range of programming languages and frameworks.
One of its unique features is the ability to suggest complete methods, complex algorithms, and even test cases based on the context and comments in your code. However, developers are advised to review and test the suggested code, as it might not always align perfectly with specific project requirements or coding standards.
Source: GitHub
CodiumAI
CodiumAI is an AI-powered coding tool that focuses on automating repetitive coding tasks. It can understand and generate code based on natural language descriptions. Developers can make requests in plain English, and the tool translates these into functional code snippets.
CodiumAI supports various programming languages and integrates with popular IDEs, providing a seamless experience for developers. It is particularly useful for quickly scaffolding standard code structures, leaving developers more time to focus on the unique and complex aspects of their projects.
Source: CodiumAI
IntelliJ IDEA AI Assistant
IntelliJ IDEA is an IDE developed by JetBrains, widely used for software development, especially in Java. The Ultimate edition of IntelliJ IDEA now comes with an AI Assistant plugin based on LLMs. You can chat with the AI Assistant to ask questions related to your project or iterate on a task, or use prompts to explain and refactor your code.
In addition, the AI Assistant provides inline code completion to get code suggestions for single lines, entire functions, and entire blocks of code. Another feature is the ability to explain commits and automatically generate commit messages, generate documentation, convert files to another language, and automatically generate tests.
Source: IntelliJ IDEA
Refact AI
Refact AI is an open-source AI coding assistant designed to enhance coding productivity. It offers fast code completion and powerful code improvement tools within your IDE. Refact AI supports several language models, including GPT-4, Code LLama, StarCoder, and WizardCoder, allowing you to choose the one that best fits your needs.
The tool is context-aware, using a fill-in-the-middle technique to understand your codebase and provide relevant suggestions. Refact AI offers features like line auto-completion, code refactoring, bug fixing, and a chat function for coding queries. It emphasizes user privacy with options for self-hosting and varying privacy levels for plugins.
Source: Refact AI
CodePal
CodePal is a code assistance platform offering a range of coding tools and helpers, catering to students, beginners, experienced developers, and companies. It aims to make coding easier and more accessible.
The platform supports numerous programming languages and frameworks, featuring AI code generators for various tasks. These generators can program, apply transformations on code, and assist in learning. CodePal also includes tools like CI/CD Writer, Dockerfile Writer, Code Extender, Code Fixer, and many more, designed to enhance the development process.
K-Explorer
K-Explorer is an AI code assistant primarily designed for enterprises, aiming to improve team coding practices and efficiency. It goes beyond regular code assistance by analyzing and building insights from an enterprise’s code base, leveraging specific code patterns and domain contexts.
K-Explorer aids in writing better, faster code through AI and generates code complying with enterprise standards. Its knowledge of code structures, concepts, and relations assists in spreading and standardizing best code practices among team members.
Source: K-Explorer
