AI-Assisted Coding: A Practical Guide to Boosting Software Development with ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Ollama, Aider, and Beyond (Rheinwerk Computing)

Generative AI is transforming software development. Stay on the cutting edge with this guide to AI pair programming! Learn how to make the most of modern tools like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot to improve your coding. Automate refactoring, debugging, and other tedious tasks, and use techniques such as prompt engineering and retrieval-augmented generation to get the code you need. Follow practical examples that show how you can program faster, more efficiently, and with fewer errors with the help of AI.

• Optimize your daily development tasks with AI
• Work with tools like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, and OpenHands to generate code, refactor programs, and debug scripts
• Explore AI options for database design, unit testing, documentation, administration, and more

Hype versus Reality
Learn from expert developers to understand the possibilities (and pitfalls) of AI tools. With the help of practical code examples, see how to use AI helpers correctly to their full potential.

Assistants for All Tasks
This guide gives you an up-to-date overview of all aspects of AI-assisted coding: GitHub Copilot autocompletions, project bootstrapping with OpenHands, debugging and refactoring, application development, and more.

In the Cloud or Local?
Use OpenAI’s API to integrate AI models directly into your own scripts and automations—or use local large language models (LLMs) to work independently of cloud services.

Michael Kofler is a programmer and one of the most successful and versatile computing authors in the German-speaking world. His current topics include AI, Linux, Docker, Git, hacking and security, Raspberry Pi, and the programming languages Swift, Java, Python, and Kotlin. Michael also teaches at the Joanneum University of Applied Sciences in Kapfenberg, Austria.

Bernd Öggl is an experienced system administrator and programmer. He enjoys experimenting with new technologies and works with AI in software development using GitHub Copilot. He is particularly interested in local large language models (LLMs) and advancements such as OpenHands and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

Sebastian Springer is a JavaScript engineer at MaibornWolff. In addition to developing and designing both client-side and server-side JavaScript applications, he focuses on imparting knowledge. He inspires enthusiasm for professional development with JavaScript as a lecturer for JavaScript, a speaker at numerous conferences, and an author. Sebastian was previously a team leader at Mayflower GmbH, a premier web development agency in Germany. He was responsible for project and team management, architecture, and customer care for companies such as Nintendo Europe and Siemens.