How AI Is Making Software Development Easier For Companies And Coders

AI (Artificial Intelligence) was created by writing numerous lines of code, now AI has the capability to code with ease. Sounds unreal, but it’s true. Nowadays, coders and even many companies are using AI to help humans in the software development process. Now, software developers can not only use AI to write and review codes but also test software, find bugs and optimize development projects. AI not only will help the new generation of developers learn to code easily, but also help companies to deploy software and apps efficiently.

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A report by Deloitte has shed some light on this topic. To summarize this report, several companies have launched  AI-enabled software development tools over the past one and a half years. This has created a new market segment that is growing tremendously for such assistive development software, with startups raising around $704 million at the end of September 2019. Deloitte explains that these AI-enabled software development tools are growing and becoming the crowd favourite as it gives the ability to meet the increasing demand for software from businesses.

There are various benefits of AI-powered coding. The most important benefit is the efficiency of the coding process. These AI-enabled tools can detect bugs while coding. These tools can also automate almost half of the tests needed for quality software as the end product. These AI-assisted tools have the same working principle as a spell checker or a grammar checker. It helps the developer to reduce around 50% of the number of keys pressed in the development of software. The report by Deloitte mentions that in today’s day and age the dependency and use of open-source codes are increasing which often come with bugs or low-level optimizations.

With the great benefits of AI in development, there lurks the fear of automation. People fear that automation can take jobs away from developers. However, in the report, it is pointed out that AI-assisted development would bring additional benefits of democratization.

The report also points out that “these AI tools are aiding and enhancing humans. They are not replacing them.” These tools are assisting the democratization of coding and software development, which in turn allows an individual who is not an efficient coder to fill the talent gaps and learn the latest skills. Additionally, there is also an AI-powered code reviewer, which provides QA (Quality Assurance) before you run the code.

A recent forecasting report from IDC points out that the market for custom application development services is estimated to grow from $47 billion in 2018 to over $61 billion in 2023. This colossal growth would be propelled by the simultaneous growth of AI-enabled software development. AI-powered software development not only benefits automatic bug fixing and code writing but can also be used to automatically organize and schedule software development projects. For example, Orange, a telecom company based out of France, recently used an AI-powered project management tool to automate some manual process of updating project timelines.

AI aids developers throughout the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle). Just like most of the automation nowadays, AI in SDLD accelerates the work. AI can terminate some tasks, however, developers or us humans are needed throughout the process. Most of us have heard of the term “low-code development” tool. These tools help people who are not professionally trained programmers develop various applications. Some of these tools use AI in a limited capacity. But the fact remains that people would be needed for the creation of applications.

Requirement gathering is another aspect where AI can hugely assist us. Requirement gathering is a conceptual phase so the most involvement of humans is required. However, AI provides a vast variety of tools and techniques, for example, Infosys Nia and Google ML Kit to automate some processes and reduce human intervention. Requirement gathering is a phase where a lot of focus is put on detecting loopholes and flaws early, before moving to the design phase. NLP (Natural Language Processing) is a branch of AI that helps machines understand human requirements in natural language and automatically obtain high-quality software models. However, some reports indicate that there have been some issues with this method which includes the challenges in supporting the developed system.

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Software design is also an area where AI can prove to be very effective. Specialized skills are needed for planning projects and designing. Creating the right design in every stage is an error-prone task for any designer. The process of rework forces some complex changes to design until the client gets the desired solution. Automation of some of these processes can prove to be very beneficial for the design of the project. It only makes sense to automate some of these complex processes with AI-powered tools. For example, using AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Design Assistant), which helps developers and designers understand the needs of their clients and aid them to design the project accordingly. AIDA is a website building tool that uses various combinations of software design and presents the desired personalized designs as per requirements.

Another area where AI can be useful is predictive analytics. Companies can use AI to analyse historical data from past projects to find correlations and stats. Predictive analytics in combination with business rules to offer accurate estimates of efforts, time, and cost associated with a project.

Many custom software development companies are already using AI in the development process. Many need to understand the impact of AI, its potential, and its benefits. Undoubtedly, AI in software development will prove to be a game-changer in the coming future.

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