CodeWhisperer by Amazon AWS is a very nice and powerful alternative to GitHub Copilot that anybody can use. It allows you to generate code in VS Code and JetBrains by just explaining what you want in plain text. It can generate code for multiple programming languages and is pretty accurate as well. Apart from code generation, it supports security scans to find vulnerabilities in the code that you have written.
During CodeWhisperer’s preview phase, it was found that CodeWhisperer users were 27% more likely to complete tasks successfully and 57% faster than those who did not use CodeWhisperer. This test result gives CodeWhisperer an advantage over Copilot to help in boosting a developer’s productivity.
Free GitHub Copilot Alternative by AWS to Generate Code: CodeWhisperer
You can start by installing this in VS Code via AWS Toolkit. In the extensions marketplace, just search for AWS Toolkit and then install it.
Now, you just click on the icon of the AWS Toolkit and then from the Developer Tools section, just find CodeWhisperer and then hit Start. It will start now, but it will ask for AWWS Builder ID.
You can create a new AWS Builder ID on the spot by falling the instructions in the browser. It will ask for email verification and then you can return back to the VS Code and start generating code.
To generate a code, you just type what you want in plain text as a comment. For example, if you want to generate code for Python, then you can simply start writing code with a “#”. Enter as much detail as you can and then hit enter.
Now, just write a little code and then press tab. For example, if you it to write a function then just type the function name and then press tab. It will show you the code as a dimmed text. If you want to enter this AI generated code in the editor, just press enter.
This way, you can now easily generate code for any programming language. All you have to do is just define in plain text what you want to do and then it will take care of the rest. Similarly, you can use the code security scan feature that this extension offers you. But use that on a whole project level so that you can have all the vulnerabilities in your code listed at one place.
Closign thoughts:
There is a decent free plan for CodeWhisperer by AWS where individuals can use it unlimited number of times. But there is a premium tier with more quota for teams and organizations. GitHub Copilot doesn’t offer free version so, you can now use CodeWhisperer in its place and take your coding skills to next level. I have covered code generation plugins for VS Code here and here but this one is more accurate, and I found it to be quite fast as well.
