TLDR: Gemini Code Assist is an AI-powered coding tool that helps SMBs developers build, deploy, and operate applications. It offers features like code completion, generation, and review, and integrates with popular IDEs. Available in free, Standard, and Enterprise versions, it aims to enhance productivity, code quality, and development speed. Users can get started by setting it up with a Google Cloud project and installing the relevant IDE extension. Always validate AI-generated output for accuracy.
For small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) looking to empower their development teams, Gemini Code Assist offers AI-powered assistance to help build, deploy, and operate applications throughout the software development lifecycle. It provides coding assistance in various popular languages.
What is Gemini Code Assist?
Gemini Code Assist is an AI-powered coding tool that integrates with your IDE to enhance your coding workflow. It features a chat interface for natural language interaction, automatic code completions to speed up coding, generation and transformation capabilities for functions or entire files, and code review functionality to help maintain code quality.
It is available in different versions
- Gemini Code Assist for individuals: A free version of the AI-coding assistant.
- Gemini Code Assist Standard: Business-ready AI coding assistance with enterprise-grade security and management tools. It costs $19 per user per month with an annual commitment, or $22.80 per user per month without commitment.
- Gemini Code Assist Enterprise: A comprehensive AI-powered application development solution that can be customized based on your private source code repositories and integrated with many Google Cloud services. It costs $45 per user per month with an annual commitment, or $54 per user per month without commitment.
How Gemini Code Assist Helps with Coding
Gemini Code Assist helps with coding and code-related tasks. After setting up Gemini Code Assist for a Google Cloud project and installing the Gemini Code Assist extension in your IDE, you can get assistance in a few ways:
- Receive code completions or generate code directly in the code editor.
- Display the conversational assistant by clicking the Gemini icon in the IDE.
- Initiate smart actions by right-clicking selected code.
- Initiate smart commands with the slash “/” on the quick pick bar either with or without selected code.
Features and Capabilities
Gemini Code Assist, an AI-powered coding assistant, can streamline your coding process through features like code completion, generation, debugging, unit test generation, explanation, documentation, and review. It also provides source citations, supports multiple IDEs, and offers custom code suggestions for enterprise users. Additionally, you can initiate smart actions and commands via right-click or the slash key.
Gemini Code Assist works with Google Cloud services
- Apigee uses enterprise data to create API specs & policies, AI-powered search & code explanations.
- Application Integration AI-assisted visual editor for automation & documentation.
- BigQuery assists with code, data canvas for natural language prompts & prevalidated SQL.
- Collab Enterprise facilitates code generation & completion.
- Databases generates, optimizes & explains SQL using natural language.
- Firebase generates, refactors, debugs & explains code; summarizes app crashes & offers troubleshooting.
Perks of Coding with AI
- Enhanced Productivity: Automation of repetitive tasks and quick access to relevant information streamlines the coding process.
- Elevated Code Quality: Aids in the identification and rectification of bugs and stylistic inconsistencies, leading to improved code quality.
- Accelerated Development: Automation speeds up development cycles, enabling faster project completion.
- Cost Reduction: Automation of code review and other processes results in significant time and cost savings.
- Democratization of AI: AI-powered coding tools become more accessible to developers of varying skill levels.
Getting Started
To start using Gemini Code Assist, you will first need to set it up for your Google Cloud project. Then, install the Gemini Code Assist extension in your preferred IDE (VS Code or any supported JetBrains IDE). Once installed, you can begin using Gemini Code Assist by writing code, asking questions, or selecting code and entering prompts.
For individual developers, signup is quick and easy and only requires a personal Gmail account; no credit card is needed. Install Gemini Code Assist in Visual Studio Code, GitHub, or JetBrains IDEs.
Responsible AI
As an early-stage technology, Gemini for Google Cloud products can generate output that seems plausible but is factually incorrect. It is recommended that you validate all output from Gemini for Google Cloud products before you use it.
Source: Google Blog, Google Cloud.
