About three weeks ago, just as the developer community was ablaze with the Microsoft's decision to make paid CopilotAmazon he presented codewhisperer. Translated into Spanish, this component of the AWS Toolkit would be called "code whisperer", and its operation for the end user is something like that of Copilot or Tabnine (if paid): we start writing, or we write a comment, and Suggestions for autocomplete will appear, sometimes even proposing complete functions.
It has been a few hours when a server has received the mail with the instructions to activate CodeWhisperer. In the email, Amazon sends some links and a code to activate this new programming partner, starting by telling us that is part of the AWS Toolkit, and not a standalone extension like the aforementioned Copilot or Tabnine extensions. They also tell us that you don't need to have an AWS account to use CodeWhisper.
CodeWhisperer now available in Preview version
The steps to follow to start using this new wizard are simple:
- We install the AWS Toolkit extension (direct link).
- A logo with the letters AWS appears in the left panel. We click on it.
- We access the CodeWhisperer menu, which is currently in Preview version.
- We choose the “Enter Preview Access Code” option and enter the code received in the email.
- Start to use.
The above is for Visual Studio Code, but can also be used in JetBrains.
Once tested, the first thing to consider are the Languages supported right now: Java. JavaScript and Python. If we want to see how it works we have to open a page for those languages. For example, we can open a .js file, put a comment, such as “//function to calculate age based on date of birth” (without the quotes), and in a few moments a suggestion will appear. If not, on PC you can press the ALT + C keys to see what it has for us. If we don't like what it offers us, we can use the left/right navigation arrows to bring up new suggestions.
As for the quality of what it “whispers” to us and its speed, it must be recognized that they still have work ahead of them. Copilot is faster, supports more languages and offers better suggestions, but we already know how they have achieved it and the price we will have to pay to use it (€10/month). The good thing is that it works, and that we are in the first day of life of the "code whisperer". With the passage of time everything is expected to improve, and some of us wish that Amazon does not make "a Microsoft" and ask us for money in the future.
In any case, CodeWhisperer has arrived, and we expect it to stay. Competition is good.