The question of whether artificial intelligence will eventually replace human programmers has been discussed a lot lately. However, Google CEO Sundar Pichai claims that AI isn’t going to replace developers anytime soon; on the contrary, it’s doing the exact opposite.
Pichai recently stated in an interview with the Lex Fridman Podcast that artificial intelligence (AI) is meant to assist software engineers, not to take their jobs. According to him, artificial intelligence (AI) is a potent helper that may increase coding professionals’ creativity and productivity.
Pichai underlined that AI programming is more about teamwork than rivalry. He clarified, “It’s about improving the capabilities of human coders.” Programmers are supposed to be able to accomplish more work more quickly and concentrate on higher-level thinking with AI tools for developers.
Although there are legitimate worries about how automation could impact employment, Pichai thinks the reality of the present and the near future is different. AI-assisted coding, in his opinion, is a tool to make programmers more productive rather than a replacement.
AI Helping Coders of Google
Surprisingly, Pichai revealed that approximately 30% of Google’s code currently incorporates some form of AI-generated input. Things are already moving more quickly thanks to tools like Google’s own AI-powered development helpers.
More significantly, he stated that the true victory lies in the speed at which teams are moving. “How much our engineering velocity has increased due to AI is the most important metric, and we measure this carefully,” he stated.
A significant 10% increase in output without sacrificing quality. Even if AI is becoming more prevalent in coding, Pichai stated that Google intends to increase its number of software developers in the upcoming year.
That might come as a surprise, but it demonstrates how AI is creating more opportunities rather than reducing them.
According to Pichai, “The opportunity space of what we can do is expanding too.” AI for developers is not taking the place of occupations; rather, it is freeing up time for more creative tasks like idea generation, issue solving, and brainstorming.
AI Enhancing Creativity
The broader picture of how AI might democratise creativity in the computer industry was another topic Pichai covered.
More people, including non-traditional programmers, can build, code, and innovate if tools are made more intelligent and easily available.
He claimed that it would provide more individuals access to creative power. A new wave of innovative software development, more cooperative engineering teams, and a wider variety of coding assignments could result from this.
This change is exemplified by platforms such as MagicShot.ai, which enable individuals to use AI to boost productivity, automate processes, and realise innovative ideas without requiring extensive technical knowledge.
Today, the competition is increasing at a rapid rate. Going to college and getting a degree is not enough. It is important to learn and develop skills to earn a good job. Employers nowadays look for relevant knowledge in candidates. So, students try their best to develop skills and make projects with them.
In technical fields, programmers make different projects to showcase their coding knowledge. When we think of posting these projects, the first name to pop up in heads is GitHub. But now, it is not the only trusted platform for coders. The internet has many other alternatives like GitLab, Launchpad, BitBucket, and more.
GitHub is a popular platform that hosts codes. It is a great and useful platform for coders. They can practice and learn further with the help of it. It allows them to work on many different projects.
It also allows coders to work with other coders on the same projects. It means different people can work on a project as a collaboration. The best part is that it has a control system. This ensures that the original version of the project is not hampered and stays intact.
This platform is great for programmers, as they can find like-minded people and code with them. The projects here are what we call open-source software.
Top Alternatives for GitHub
Whenever a person is looking for a code hosting platform, GitHub gets the place on top. But now many other platforms serve as their alternatives.
The following are some of its top substitutes:
BitBucket
Bitbucket – Best GitHub Alternative
BitBucket is a Git and Mercurial code management and collaboration platform. It came into existence in the year 2008. It has both free and monetary plans. It is a great platform for professionals to plan, collaborate, build, test, and deploy software.
It offers a place where professionals can manage git repositories and join up on their source code. It has tools like Jira, HipChat, and Confluence. This helps to make it one of the most popular choices for big enterprises.
It offers many features for developers. For example- code review, branch permissions, pipelines, integration, collaboration, and more.
GitLab
GitLab- Best GitHub Alternative
GitLab is an open-core company, launched in 2014 that provides software. It blends three abilities. These are development, security, and operating software, all in a single application.
This platform allows planning of projects, source code collaboration and management, CI/CD, and monitoring. GitLab offers a feature-based system with integration for web developers.
It offers many different features to make the platform more exclusive. For example- version control, bug tracking, code review, issue management, and more.
Another popular alternative is Gitea. This came into existence in the year 2016. It is an open-source forge software. It is a package for self-hosting a lightweight Git server. Along with self-hosting, it also offers free public first-party instances.
It has a well-documented API and allows the set up of various webhooks. The software is under the MIT OSS license and is community-managed.
It comes with various attractive features. For example- pull request and code reviews, multiple code maintainers, wikis and bug tracking, and more.
Launchpad
Launchpad – Best GitHub Alternative
Launchpad is a website that was put in motion in 2004. The platform allows software collaboration, where the users can develop and maintain open-source software.
One can not only host but also import git repositories here. It provides translations, FAQs, and answers tracking and specifications tracking. A user can enjoy this platform for free.
This provides many features to its users. For example- code reviews, code hosting, bug tracking, mailing lists, etc.
RhodeCode is an open-source self-hosted platform, founded in 2010. It is an enterprise source code management platform. This offers the unification of Git, mercurial, and subversion repositories.
It applies unified user control, permissions, and tool integrations. It has an enterprise edition, where you can link enterprise tools, premium support, and more.
The platform offers various features to its users. For example- advanced code review, workflow automation, permission management, etc.
Phabricator
Phabricator – Best GitHub Alternative
Phabricator is another popular alternative software, launched in the year 2010. It is a series of web development collaboration tools. These tools are- differential code review tool, diffusion repository browser, Herald change monitoring tool, Maniphest bug tracker, and Phriction wiki.
It can be used for large datasets and also scale to large organizations. It is open-source, fast, and free software, where you own all your data.
There are many features provided by the platform. For example- code review, repository hosting, issue tracking, change auditing, and more.
SourceForge
SourceForge – Best GitHub Alternative
SourceForge is a popular web service that supports the open-source software community. It aims to provide a platform for developers to control and manage software projects.
The platform has projects based on myriad tools. It helps developers with the storage of a project’s source code under revision control. It is a platform for both open-source software and business software.
It is a great alternative to GitHub with many features. For example- Git, mercurial repositories, project wikis, unique subdomain URLs, etc.
Google Cloud Source Repositories
Google Cloud Source Repositories – Best GitHub Alternative
This is another great alternative, developed by Google. It is a cloud-based private Git repository tool that enables users to design, develop, and manage their codes.
It enables developers to host as well as track the changes to large codebases on its platform. It has a cloud source repository that can be accessed and used by many users at the same place.
It offers exclusive features. For example – unlimited private repositories, built-in CI, powerful code search capabilities, and more.
Gogs
Gogs – Best GitHub Alternative
Gogs is a self-hosted Git server where you can host your codes. It is a super lightweight and easy to install solution. It allows expanding a local Git server for a machine or small network.
It is completely self-hosted so its scope is not as wide as GitHub. But it has many similar features found on other platforms.
Gogs provides features like repository management, organization webhooks, deploy keys, and more.
Coding is something that has a wide scope. So, it is important for the developers to learn and practice their skills. The open-source platforms play a very important role here. These help the developers to learn better and connect with other like-minded people.
The above mentioned are some of the most popular names that can be used as GitHub alternatives. Apart from these, there are more options available as well. Some of these are Beanstalk, TaraVault, Gerrit, etc.
FAQs
What is GitHub?
GitHub is a popular platform that hosts codes. It allows different coders to work on the same projects as a collaboration.
Is GitHub a software?
GitHub is a web-based version-control and collaboration platform for software developers. It works on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model.