AWS has introduced the free AI tool CodeWhisperer, which allows developers to write code faster and more securely based on AI-based suggestions, making it an alternative to GitHub Copilot.
The AI-based coding tool provides developers with several code suggestions during the coding process, enabling them to write their code faster and more securely and to focus more easily on their work without having to interrupt their workflows and leave their code editor to look for information elsewhere.
Functionality
According to AWS, the tool is suitable for creating code for routines and time-consuming tasks or collaborating with unfamiliar APIs or SDKs. Amazon CodeWhisperer also accurately and effectively uses existing AWS APIs and other common coding scenarios such as file read/write, image processing, and unit test writing.
AWS has also taken the necessary security measures to ensure the tool works responsibly. Code proposals that may be biased or unfair are automatically filtered out. In addition, the tool automatically filters or flags code suggestions that may resemble certain open-source training data. Furthermore, the tool applies security scanning to find and recommend code suggestions for hard-to-find vulnerabilities.
Other features
Amazon CodeWhisperer, which is similar to GitHub’s Copilot in terms of functionality, is available in a free and a “professional” version. The latter also has administrative features such as SSO and IAM Identity Center.
The tool also works with the code languages Python, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, Go, Rust, PHP, Ruby, Kotlin, C, C++, Shell scripting, SQL and Scala.
Also read: Amazon Bedrock offers developers access to generative AI.
