Best Chat GPT Plug-ins For Software Development

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.

Cause, Effect, Direction and Destiny… Where are you heading to?

Bear this in mind: every action we take, either conscious or unconsciously, a thought, a decision, any action (or lack of it), is a cause you set in motion.

Simultaneously, each Cause will always be paired with a corresponding Effect. 

Now, if that action is sustained in time will start creating a Direction, and we already know that every Direction will eventually lead to a Destiny.

 If we are not aware of the Actions we’re taking, the ultimate destination we would arrive to will surely take us by surprise –and not the kind of surprises we tend to like.

All of our Actions are permanently molding our Destiny.

Luckily for us, there is a lag of time from the moment we start screwing up and the moment when we finally create that Destiny; it doesn’t manifest itself instantaneously, it will take us some serious and constant screwing up to have all those effects piling up enough to produce tangible manifestations. 

There are however two sides to this time lag coin: One –we could call it the “favorable” one, is that it will take more than just one wrong action to ruin our lives. 

The other side, the “less-favorable” one, is that we will also need to stock some well-directed actions in order to generate the positive results we in deed are expecting. It will take some momentum. 

We cannot change months, even years of wrong behavior with just a couple of well-directed action days. It would be just like trying to stop a guy sliding down a water slide… 

If we were to catch him near the beginning? Well, it might work. 

Half way down? … Possible. 

But down to the end of the slide? At that speed?

No way, forget it  (and that’s why they put the pool there, you know?)

Think about it.

Stay Strong!

One of the core values we have as a company is to inspire and empower people in all aspects of their lives. Additionally, if you want to read about our Custom Software Solutions and Consulting Services, please visit www.isucorp.ca, or book a meeting to review your software project.

Function Point Analysis in Software Engineering

Every time a project is started in any organization, the first step is to complete the analysis phase. This phase is essential for the fulfillment of the next stages. It contributes to decision-making, management, and control of the resources assigned for the development of the project, as well as establishing the schedule and costs.

Achieving an accurate analysis methodology in a software project helps mitigate the risks of project failure. Function Point Analysis (FPA) is an advanced analysis technique that helps obtain a detailed picture of each project's scope, performance, duration, and quality.

This term was used for the first time by Allan J. Albrecht in 1979 in IBM, Function Point Analysis. Even when it has faced a few modifications over the years, Function Point Analysis is still a standardized method frequently used as an estimation technique in software engineering.

What is Function Point Analysis?

A function point is a unit of measure used to calculate and represent a software functional size measure. In other words, it consists of estimating the scope of the project, the number of personnel involved, the cost, and the time that the project will take. 

The main components of Function point Analysis are:

•  external input types (EI)

•  external output types (EO)

•  logical internal file type (EQ)

•  external interface file types (ILF)

•  type of external query (ELF)

According to the function point approach, the system's full functionality is captured by these five parameters.

Function Point Analysis Benefits for Projects

• FPA focuses on measuring the size of the solution and not the size of the problem

• It can be used regardless of the programming language used in the project

• It contributes to achieving the estimation of the costs, the schedule, and other general issues of the project

• FPA facilitates the negotiation process with clients

If you are interested in learning more about this topic, do not hesitate to contact us.