We know about the prompts Chat GPT has to offer software developers, which are great starting points— but truly, they are nowhere near the full scope of leveraging streamlined workflows from AI. Since the dawn of its existence, coding has been about 3 things; creativity, problem-solving, and innovation. With artificial intelligence, the horizon for these aspects of coding expands exponentially.
Plug-ins elevate this further, especially when a programmer knows exactly which to use and when. What plug-ins do is leverage AI algorithms to cut down the development process by automating tasks and getting data-driven insights. A typical scenario for development with plug-ins might look like this:
Scenario of Leveraging Plug-ins
A programmer is working on developing a web application for a client. The project involves developing systems for user authentication and authorization, implementing complex business logic, integrating with external APIs, and load balancing. The deadline is also tight.
To start, they use a plug-in that automates the process of setting up secure user authentication systems, including user registration, login, password encryption, and session management. Once that’s done, they go to an AI-driven tool that will give them 3 things; intelligent suggestions, code templates, and algorithms for handling not just super complex workflows, but also calculations. Still with me? We’re almost there.
As the project involves integration with external APIs, the programmer moves to an AI-based tool that simplifies the process of connecting to external services. The main purpose of this tool is 4 things: automatically generating code for authentication, making API requests, handling responses, and managing errors. By now, communication with external APIs is seamless and they move on to the last phase.
They need load balancing for performance and scalability. For this reason, they use a tool that does 3 things: monitors server loads, distributes incoming traffic across servers, and optimizes resource allocation. With this, the workload can be distributed which ultimately lets the system handle user traffic without compromising stability.
Throughout this entire process, the programmer is leveraging a tool that analyzes code and performance metrics. The Chat GPT plug-ins utilize these insights and data from the analysis to generate code snippets and insights. So if you thought plug-ins were limited to providing prompts, think again. With that said, here are some Chat GPT plug-ins that developers need to pay attention to:
Zapier
This is likely the most popular integration tool as it integrates over 5,000 apps with ChatGPT. You can connect apps like Google Sheets, Gmail, and Slack directly to ChatGPT. Users can leverage any of Zapier's 50,000 actions, such as search, update, and write to automate tasks.
Code Interpreter
Although currently in a closed alpha phase, this plug-in is very promising for the future of software development. It enables the execution of Python code directly within a chat session with ChatGPT. The plugin allows users to upload and download files, make code adjustments, and even receive suggestions and modifications from ChatGPT.
ChatWithGit
ChatWithGit is a plugin that enables users to search GitHub directly within the ChatGPT interface. It allows users to find relevant code snippets and provides a preview of the code along with a link to the corresponding repository. This feature saves developers time by leveraging existing code resources on GitHub without having to reinvent the wheel.
Visual ChatGPT Studio
Visual ChatGPT Studio is an extension from the Visual Studio Marketplace. It integrates with Visual Studio. Its features include method code autocompletion, adding unit tests, bug detection, method optimization, explanation writing, commenting, providing summaries for C# methods, and users can ask questions (code-related questions) and get answers within the editor.
Prompt Perfect
The Prompt Perfect plug-in helps users create effective prompts by optimizing and rewording them for better results. It’s also not exclusive to ChatGPT. All you do as a user is begin your prompt with “perfect” followed by your request.
Wolfram Alpha
The Wolfram Alpha plugin addresses ChatGPT's limitations in math. It gives ChatGPT access to computation, math functionalities, curated knowledge, and real-time data through Wolfram Alpha and the Wolfram language. Using this plugin, ChatGPT can give you improved responses and visualizations for math-related queries.
Link Reader
Link Reader enables ChatGPT to extract and analyze information from various types of links, like PDFs, PPTs, Word docs, and all the fun stuff alike. Users then have ChatGPT translate, summarize, interpret, and even analyze the contents of the given link, to get insights far more in-depth than a typical search engine.
Moving Forward
Emad Mostaque's statement that "There are no developers in 5 years" is something companies in the tech space need to really think about. The amount that one person can achieve increases exponentially with AI-powered tools. And trust me, you won’t lose your job to a machine, but the person who knows how to leverage machines will blindside you.
Written By Ben Brown
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ISU Corp is an award-winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost-effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.
Our unique owners’ mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to Fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.
