AskCodi Review (2023): Effective Coding With AI Assistant

Recently, many industries have been affected by the rise of AI tools, and programming isn't different. Of course, AI has not taken over the role of engineers, but it's certainly changing how we approach software development.

AI coding tools have become very helpful, assisting in writing boilerplate code, reducing bugs, and just coding faster. And in this blog post, we'll evaluate one of these tools called AskCodi.

Can it be a great help in your coding tasks? Is it a reasonable replacement for ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot?

Let's find out!

What is AskCodi?

AskCodi is a powerful AI assistant designed to help you code quicker and more smoothly.

AskCodi can:

• generate code in many popular programming languages
• write unit tests
• write documentation
• explain code
• engage in conversation via a chat interface, similar to ChatGPT.

AskCodi is powered by OpenAI Codex, an AI system that converts natural language into code. OpenAI Codex has been trained on a mix of publicly accessible source code and multiple natural languages, so it can easily understand both programming and human languages.

You can access AskCodi via a web application, but it's also possible to use an IDE extension available for Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, and JetBrains.

AskCodi

AI coding Assistant

AskCodi Features

Let's take a moment to talk about what makes AskCodi so interesting - all the features created to make our work more efficient and enjoyable.

Codi Chat

As you might expect, Codi Chat is a chatbot interface where you can ask any question to the AI.

You may already be familiar with other AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Chatsonic, but Codi Chat sets itself apart by integrating directly into your IDE, such as Visual Studio Code.

This makes it very convenient, as there is no need to switch between tabs while coding.

Codi Workbook

The workbook is the most powerful feature of AskCodi. It's an interactive environment where you can generate code, ask AI to explain code, write documentation, and even craft unit tests.

So, it's an entire place designed to make you more productive.

As you can see in the image above, there are four buttons available for us. Let's break down their functionalities.

Generating Code

AskCodi offers a code generation option where you simply input some description into the text field, and AI generates the corresponding function.

But how good is the generated code? Well, it depends. Remember, no AI coding assistant is perfect, and AskCodi is no exception.

There were times when AskCodi produced high-quality functions that needed no further tweaks. But, sometimes, the output wasn't quite right, and I had to hit the Generate button multiple times to get an acceptable result.

Explaining Code

The Explain button offers detailed explanations for any pasted function. AI does an impressive job of providing a comprehensive analysis of every part of the code.

For example, take a look at this in-depth breakdown of a function generating the Fibonacci sequence 👇

Writing Documentation

Now, let's move on to the Document button - one of my favorite features of AskCodi.

Let's be honest; most of us don't enjoy writing documentation. And AskCodi can generate quite impressive docs in seconds.

Documentation includes a comprehensive list of the function's parameters, what it returns, and potential errors. In addition, the AI explains the code and possible errors.

While you might need to adjust the generated documentation to fit your specific needs, this feature significantly helps make our applications more organized and easier to navigate.

Writing Tests

Writing unit tests is definitely the best feature of AskCodi. We can quickly generate some tests for our function just by clicking the button.

AI also explains the code and points out that it's using a testing framework like Jasmine or Jest as an example. Most of the time, these tests were pretty good, just like the ones it made for a Fibonacci function in the example below.

Codi Projects

This feature is rather simple. It allows us to group our AI generations into separate projects, helping us keep our workspace organized. Each project has its own chat and workbook.

All we need to do is provide a title, choose a programming language, and we can also add an optional description.

This way, we can create unique environments for different tasks.

AskCodi Pricing

AskCodi offers a free plan that gives you 50 free credits monthly and allows you to explore this tool's core features. This is a great way to test if AskCodi fits your needs without committing to a paid plan upfront.

In addition to the free version, AskCodi offers two paid options:

• Monthly Plan: At $9.90 per month, you receive 500 credits monthly and gain priority access to new features.
• Yearly Plan: Priced at $99.00 per year, this plan also offers 500 credits each month and priority access to new features.

AskCodi: Pros and Cons

My Thoughts on AskCodi

AskCodi is a solid AI assistant that makes coding more efficient by adding an AI chatbot directly into your IDE and eliminating the need to switch tabs between editor and AI chat.

It can also handle a wide variety of languages, and it's very good at generating documentation and unit tests.

However, I think this tool could be improved by adding more features within IDE so it's not just a chatbot. I believe AskCodi would benefit from real-time context-aware recommendations and maybe some separate interface in IDE for writing unit tests or docs.

Overall, it's a promising AI assistant with the potential for significant improvements. Plus, with its generous free plan, it's definitely worth exploring to see if it can help with your coding tasks.

FAQ

Wrapping Up

I hope this review has introduced you to the capabilities and potential of AskCodi.

There are multiple AI tools available to help you with coding, so finding the most suitable fit can be challenging.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Happy coding! ✌