Google’s Bard chatbot can now assist developers with programming and other software development tasks. In a blog post, Google states that Bard can help users by generating computer code, debugging it and explaining its function.
Google Bard was introduced at the beginning of this year as a competitor to ChatGPT and Bing Chat, which are also powered by OpenAI technology. While not all reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, Google CEO Sundar Pichai also presented Bard’s state at launch as an early experiment. The expansion is therefore the next step in its development.
Still Experimental
Google is quick to emphasize that Bard can still contain errors. Therefore, the research team presents it as an assistant only. Nevertheless, Google views the use of Bard as a resource for novice programmers, among others. With so-called ‘code snippets’, the chatbot can explain what the piece of code does and whether it contains any errors. Even Bard’s own code can be corrected, similar to how ChatGPT can detect its own errors.
Bard recognizes 20 different programming languages, including C++, Javascript and Python. Users can export Python code to Google Colab without having to use copy+paste. There is enough functionality, but with the warning that there are still growing pains with the chatbot.
