How can ChatGPT help you program better

18. September 2023

What is ChatGPT?

In technology, ChatGPT is revolutionising the way developers develop their projects. Thanks to the ability to interpret text inputs into lines of code, it is possible to create effective programs without having to allocate more hours, writing them manually in full. As the language models used by ChatGPT are constantly updated and refined based on feedback from users and the programming community, the trend for the future will be to increase the quality of the code generated by this technology. ChatGPT can significantly reduce development time, allowing programmers to concentrate their efforts on tasks where human intelligence and sensitivity are truly required. For companies, it is an opportunity to increase team productivity and reduce operational costs.

What does it allow you to do?

No matter your job position or the sector you work in, ChatGPT can effectively increase your productivity levels. In the area of ​​programming in particular, this technology could be an asset at different moments in your career, including when you finish your degree and look for your first job in the technology area. So, in a first contact and assuming, hypothetically, that you have no professional experience, you could use ChatGPT to build or update your CV or, on the other hand, write a cover letter specifically aimed at an offer you have found. Similarly, you could use this tool to obtain a set of possible questions that could be asked in a job interview, and then you can practice the possible answers.

We believe that no Artificial Intelligence can replace human creativity and discernment, among other characteristics that only a person can add to the creation of anything.

Returning to developers’ reality, it is perhaps wrongly assumed, that these professionals spend all or most of their time writing code. This task only represents a fraction of your time and is just one of their daily responsibilities. Thus, thanks to this new technology, it is possible to allocate more time to key project issues such as requirements analysis and quality testing to ensure that software works as expected and the needs of all parties are met.

How can it help you program?

Code

ChatGPT can generate code for simple or recurring tasks. However, it is important to consider that your ability to write code is limited and may sometimes be inaccurate or not what you want. On the other hand, since it has been trained with large volumes of data, ChatGPT can also suggest improvements to existing code. Likewise, it is essential to bear in mind that this technology cannot interpret the real needs of the project or the problem it aims to solve, making human intelligence decisive in the development processes. ChatGPT's code generation features can be useful for programmers at various experience levels, as it is a tool that helps them focus on the most important points, delegating repetitive and time-consuming tasks. In this way, if on the one hand, there is a greater return on time, on the other hand, this process can help to mitigate the occurrence of errors.

Debugging

By suggesting possible causes of error and ways to reach a solution, ChatGPT is very useful in programming for resolving bugs or finding potential sources of error. In this task, this tool may also ask some questions and later provide some insights to help find the solution. As a result, the time and effort allocated to resolving errors throughout development can be considerably reduced.

Documentation

ChatGPT can process natural text and so the daily routine, which is also marked by the development of project documentation, can now be simpler as this tool can also help in this field. In practice, programmers can, through a code fragment, give instructions to generate documentation, whose function intent information, inputs, outputs and other relevant details can be included. Once the code has been entered into ChatGPT, it will be able to generate more appropriate documentation models depending on the programming language being used. Likewise, and considering the technology in use in each project, ChatGPT can provide examples of good documentation practices used in a given programming language.

Scripts

Scripts gain greater importance when it is necessary to develop a resource, a feature or a specific action in the project. Depending on the specific task or problem to be solved, ChatGPT is able to generate code scripts in various programming languages ​​according to the type of input given and requirements placed by the user.

Security

Whatever technological product is designed today, it is unanimous to say that security is the main concern of programming teams. Between attempted unauthorized access, and access to confidential data, among others, cyber-attacks are increasingly sophisticated and their passage could represent structural and operational problems that could jeopardize the financial viability of a company. Thus, ChatGPT offers a broad approach to security by identifying possible vulnerabilities in a system and mitigating the risk of possible damage caused by a cyberattack.

Libraries and Frameworks

Also for exploring new libraries and frameworks, ChatGPT can add a lot of value to developers who need to obtain some insights and learn more about the fundamentals. In this regard, this Artificial Intelligence tool can help professionals when there is a need to choose between frameworks or libraries as per the details delivered. Thus, in practice, ChatGPT can provide a comparison between two resources, present their advantages and disadvantages and, according to the needs of programmers, indicate the option that may be more viable.

Optimization

On the other hand, once the code has been debugged, there is always space for improvements. If the aim is to optimize code and make the whole project more efficient, ChatGPT could also be an interesting tool, as it allows you to examine code snippets and then suggest possible improvements that make the project more readable and better maintained, which could be the driving force for a more efficient programming cycle.

Prompts - What are they and how can they help you?

Prompts are text inputs, whether questions, instructions, or others, that are entered by users into ChatGPT to get answers. In this way, we can assume that a response or solution to something provided by ChatGPT will be better the higher the quality of the input entered by the user. Thus, prompt Carefully written, detailed and specific will most likely determine the quality of the responses obtained.

How to write a prompt in ChatGPT

Asking ChatGPT for specific instructions or any type of assistance can be a useful resource in your daily programming routine. However, to achieve the maximum potential of the platform it is necessary to understand how to use the prompts effectively. In some cases, where the issue may be more complex, you should ensure that your prompt is:

Specific

Describe the programming language you are working with and what specifically you want to achieve with the help of ChatGPT.

Contextualized

Whether it's through a library, framework or other functionality, make sure you add all the necessary context information to obtain more assertive answers.

Informative

All information, no matter how secondary or irrelevant it may seem to solve the problem, consider adding it to your prompt, to obtain a more complete and detailed request.

Prompts úteis para programadores

• - Explain to me how (concept or function) works in (language name).
• - What is the correct syntax for (statement or function) in (language name)?
• - Show me best practices in (language name).
• - Suggest improvements to my code in (language name): (code snippet).
• - Write a script in (language name) that processes (type of data) and obtains (intended output) with the following requirements: (list requirements).
• - Implement an algorithm from (language name) to (intended purpose), given the input parameters of (input data) that should originate (expected outputs), considering the following requirements: (list considerations).
• - I'm working on (feature name) in (language name), but my code is generating the wrong response. Tell me where the error is: (code snippet).
• - Acts like a (language name) developer. Write a function to read and print duplicate values ​​from a given CSV file.

Definitely, this set of requests is just a small example of everything that ChatGPT can help you within your daily programming routine. The important thing to remember is that whatever the problem, doubt, or challenge, you must be as objective, specific and detailed as you are thorough with what you have in hand.

What programming languages ​​does ChatGPT know?

Although it was exposed to several programming languages ​​during its initial tests, there is a clear tendency towards more natural languages. Thus, this Artificial Intelligence tool can write code in technologies such as:

• - Python
• - Java
• - JavaScript
• - PHP
• - Go
• - Ruby
• - C
• - C#
• - C++
• - TypeScript

However, ChatGPT's compatibility with programming languages ​​goes beyond those presented above since, with other older or not-so-popular technologies, it can still present code quality with impressive results, with the ones we highlight effectively presenting the best performance.

Can ChatGPT be trusted to create code?

The question that immediately arises is: can we trust code written by humans? Programmers' code creation process is naturally defective, as there will always be bugs. First you program, then you test. And test it again. There is no way to round it, it’s the nature of the universe and this happens in several areas, technological or not. So, just because Artificial Intelligence is doing incredible things, it doesn't mean that, in this area, it can generate clean code, free of bugs, without the need for human review and scrutiny. Therefore, despite largely facilitating the process, humanized supervision of everything generated by the machine is always crucial.

Will Artificial Intelligence tools replace programmers?

This will certainly be one of the most present questions when reflecting on what workspaces might be like in the future and how Artificial Intelligence might determine new trends in work and cooperation between teams. We believe that, given the complete uncertainty of the future, we can build viable scenarios with some clues of the present. Thus, the future could be marked by closer collaboration between man and machine, with Artificial Intelligence supporting programmers, making their daily routines more efficient. If, on the one hand, Artificial Intelligence does not have the capacity for critical thinking and a deep understanding of the principles necessary for workspaces, on the other, humans can add value to all processes with critical and creative thinking when solving unique problems. which make them unique and, in our thinking, completely irreplaceable. Therefore, we believe in a greater coexistence of technology and people to increase the productivity and efficiency of development cycles, which, we can assume, for the future, is an excellent opportunity for the sustainability of innovation.

ChatGPT limitations in programming

Although ChatGPT is a technology that is revolutionizing workspaces, in this case in technology, it’s important for developers to be aware of the limitations that, despite the advances achieved, exist.

Even though it is very competent in solving problems, based on patterns and constant machine learning, this technology can present a limited understanding of the context for which it was previously programmed. On the other hand, although it may recognize some emotion in an entry made by a user, the lack of emotional intelligence may also be a limitation to be considered. Equally pertinent is the fact that, despite being a technology that learns from previous conversations, it is limited in acquiring experience and adjusting its responses to changing environments and user feedback.

In conclusion, ChatGPT offers a world of possibilities in ​​programming. As we continue to explore this technology, it is crucial to remember that ethics and responsibility play an important role in the development of the future. So, aware of the challenges, ChatGPT can be used to maximize benefits while minimizing potential risks. In this way, with due caution and creativity, it can be a valuable tool for programmers, helping to improve the future of programming and human-machine interaction.