The Double-Edged Sword of AI in Coding

AI tools have become increasingly popular in the coding world, with code completion features integrated into our IDEs. It predicts what you are about to code and just does this work for you.

But are these tools really beneficial for beginners? Let's dive into this topic and explore the pros and cons.

The Learning Process for Beginner Developers

When you start learning to code, you typically:

1. Try to write code on your own
2. Make mistakes and encounter errors
3. Look up solutions or figure things out yourself
4. Finally get your code to work

This process of trial and error is crucial for learning how to code effectively.

The Potential Dangers of Code Completion Tools

For beginners, relying on code completion tools can be risky:

• It removes the important learning process of figuring things out on your own
• You might not be able to judge if the AI-generated code is correct or does what you want
• It can hinder your ability to understand how the code actually works

Better Ways for Beginners to Use AI

While I disensourage using code completion tools as a beginner, I recommend to use AI (ChatGPT or Claude best) in these use cases:

• Post your code an an error to figure out why it doesn't work
• Post a code snippet and ask what it does
• Ask why code is written a certain way

This gives a beginner way more value than code completion and makes them a more robust developer.

Conclusion

AI tools can be incredibly useful for coding, but beginners should be cautious about relying too heavily on code completion features. Instead, focus on learning through trial and error, and use AI as a tool for explanation and understanding rather than automatic code generation.