Key observations from testing various AI coding tools and extensions beyond direct LLM interfaces like Claude, Gemini, and GPT:
Interface & Accessibility:
- Natural language (English) has become the primary interface for code review and development
- This "English as code" approach makes programming accessible to non-technical users
- The barrier between technical and non-technical roles is blurring, suggesting future tech employees may all be effectively full-stack
Development Environment:
- Modern AI coding tools often provide complete IDE experiences
- AI agents can read and modify entire codebases while maintaining context
- Browser-based environments are gaining popularity, offering:
- Full development capabilities
- Integrated deployment pipelines
- Built-in database and API infrastructure
- Zero configuration requirements
Pricing & Performance:
- Transparent cost structures show token usage and API call pricing in real-time
- Tools often allow flexibility in choosing underlying AI models
- Most popular tools balance coding capability with cost-effectiveness
- Rate limiting is common during testing phases
- Many tools offer unlimited access post-release
IDEs & Platforms
- Cursor - A powerful AI-native IDE built on VS Code, offering chat, edits, and debugging
- PearAI - AI pair programming environment with real-time collaboration
- Replit - Cloud IDE with built-in AI capabilities and instant deployment
- Lovable - AI-powered development environment focused on developer experience
- Windsurf - Modern AI coding environment by Codeium
- Aider - Terminal-based AI coding assistant
- Bolt - Instant, secure cloud development environment
- Srcbook - AI-powered code exploration and documentation
- Cody - AI coding assistant with deep code understanding
- Alex - Cursor-like AI assistant for Xcode
- Codebuff - AI-enhanced development environment
- Llama Coder - Open-source AI coding assistant powered by Together AI
- v0 - AI-powered UI component and template generator by Vercel
- Goose - AI-powered code editor with integrated assistance
- Void Editor - Modern AI-enhanced code editing environment
Extensions
Most of these extensions are built for VS Code, as it's become the dominant platform for AI coding assistants:
- Cline - AI coding assistant extension
- Roo cline - Enhanced version of Cline
- CodeGPT - GPT-powered coding assistant
- Codeium - AI code completion and chat (makers of Windsurf)
Revised by Claude Sonnet 3.5