Google's AI experiment Bard has recently added coding capabilities for programming and software development tasks. Bard was initially launched as an experiment that allows users to collaborate with generative AI. Since its launch, coding has been one of the top requests that the team has received from users. As a result, the Google Research team has updated Bard to include this capability.
Paige Bailey, a Group Product Manager at Google Research and a passionate engineer who still programs every day, stated that they are excited to launch this feature. With Bard's new coding capabilities, users can generate code, debug it, and even get an explanation of their code snippets. The coding capabilities are available in more than 20 programming languages, including C++, Go, Java, Javascript, Python, and Typescript.
One of the most exciting features of Bard's coding capabilities is the ability to export Python code to Google Colab without requiring any copy and paste. This can save time for developers who use Google Colab for their projects. In addition to generating code, Bard can also help with writing functions for Google Sheets.
The feature that sets Bard apart from other code generation tools is its ability to explain code snippets. This feature is particularly helpful for beginners who are learning to code or those who need additional support to understand a block of code. Users can ask Bard to explain code by prompting it with a question such as "Tell me about the code within the google/jax GitHub repo."
Bard can also help users debug their code, even if Bard generated the code in the first place. If Bard gives an error message or code that doesn't work as intended, users can prompt Bard to fix it. Bard will then provide debugging instructions.
It's important to note that Bard is still an early experiment, and its responses should always be double-checked and carefully tested for errors, bugs, and vulnerabilities. It's possible that Bard may sometimes provide inaccurate, misleading, or false information while presenting it confidently. Users should also be aware that Bard may provide code that is not optimal or incomplete. Despite these challenges, the Google Research team believes that Bard's new capabilities can help users by offering new ways to write code, create test cases, or update APIs.
Google's AI experiment Bard has added coding capabilities for programming and software development tasks. Bard can generate code, explain code snippets, and help users debug their code. It's exciting to see how generative AI can be applied to accelerate software development, inspire innovation, and help people solve complex engineering challenges. While Bard is still an early experiment, it has the potential to be a valuable tool for developers and beginners alike.