GitHub Copilot vs. ChatGPT: Which Tool is Better for Software Development?

The ever-evolving world of programming is adopting new tools and technologies to upscale the quality and quantity of software being built. GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT have become hot topics of discussion among these new tools and technologies.

Now, GitHub Copilot is a result of collaboration between Github and Open AI. ChatGPT on the other hand, is a product developed solely by Open AI. Both tools harness the power of artificial intelligence development companies to benefit the global tech ecosystem.

GitHub Copilot was launched in October 2021 as a plugin on the JetBrains marketplace. ChatGPT, on the other hand, was launched on November 30, 2022. Both tools have gained significant popularity among developers since their respective launches.

As an official GitHub report suggests from June 2023 suggests, GitHub Copilot has been adopted by 20,000+ organizations and over a million. Additionally, ChatGPT had 100 million+ users by the same tenure.

Both tools are designed to reduce the manual work for developers. These tools aim to automate some parts of development and testing so more high-quality digital products can be produced.

But both technologies do it in their own ways; which we will discuss in more detail through this in-depth comparison between the GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT. Let’s begin!

Comparing ChatGPT vs. GitHub Copilot

• Programming languages

GitHub Copilot offers great compatibility with programming languages like Python, Ruby, Go, C#, C++, JavaScript, and TypeScript. However, coding with GitHub Copilot also supports numerous other programming languages that help developers upscale their software development game.

Here’s a sample produced by GitHub Copilot upon entering the command “Create a Java script from scratch for a snake game”. While generating the game code using GitHub Copilot, the tool stopped midway and repeatedly displayed the error message “Oops, your response got filtered. Vote down if you think this shouldn’t have happened.”. Apparently, this step helps the tool maintain the ethical standards of the programming industry.

Coding with ChatGPT is diverse as well. This one of the best AI chatbots can generate codes in Python, Java, and JavaScript along with several other programming languages. Developers are using the tool to debug their codes, create scripts, find suggestions, etc.

To test its capabilities, we used the same command “Create a Java script from scratch for a snake game” to prepare a script. We got a script set up in the HTML5 canvas. The script included game loop, movement, basic rendering, and collision detection. Now, the only thing left for coders is to improve the visualization of the game.

• Functionality

GitHub Copilot is tailored specifically to the software development industry. The platform is equipped with specialized AI coding tools designed to improve the efficiency of codes generated. The tool is capable of generating error-free codes within seconds along with in-depth insights to improve the quality of the code.

ChatGPT, on the other hand, is more focused on generating text-based results. But as mentioned earlier, ChatGPT programming capabilities include generating codes in various scripts and debugging already written codes.

ChatGPT is preferred to generate human-like responses, long-form articles, and more. Several American and Indian software development companies like Salesforce, Air India, and Duolingo have adopted ChatGPT as a part of their customer support strategy. The tool has also shown promising growth in Japan, Brazil, and Colombia among other countries.

• Customization

GitHub Copilot offers great customization to improve the quality of coding with AI. The tool can be customized as per the requirements of the project in an IDE that supports the extension.

Moreover, ChatGPT is customizable but options are limited. Users can customize the result by using the right prompts but as for the coding part, GitHub clearly tops in terms of customization and quality.

• Training data

GitHub Copilot is trained on a massive amount of code repositories. It is designed to produce context-aware codes. The tool uses real-world examples to produce codes. However, to understand queries and respond better, GitHub Copilot uses Natural Language Processing (NLP), a branch of AI focused on generating more humanized responses.

While ChatGPT also uses Natural Language Processing (NLP), it is trained using a massive amount of textual data. It has been trained with codes as well but the tool is designed to answer queries of a broader range beyond software development. The goal of building ChatGPT was to give users a conversational AI that can help them out with complex queries with extreme accuracy.

• Collaboration

GitHub Copilot is available in the form of extensions that can be integrated into several IDEs. Several popular IDEs that allow the use of GitHub Copilot are Visual Studio, JetBrains, Azure Data Studio, Vim, and more.

ChatGPT is available in the form of APIs used by several businesses. Several brands like Snapchat, Microsoft, ChatSonic, and more are using ChatGPT APIs to promote and improve their own products. ChatGPT can be integrated with virtual assistants, neutral language interfaces, chatbot backends, and more.

• Context accuracy

In the comparison of ChatGPT vs. Copilot, the latter can assist better with development requirements. The tool is trained on a massive amount of coding data to make it more relevant for coders. As GitHub Copilot is powered by OpenAI Codex, the codex includes a massive dataset of 159 GB of Python code from 54 million public GitHub repositories. These datasets help the tool write codes better.

ChatGPT has been released in multiple versions. For instance- GPT 3.5 and GPT 4. The latest version, GPT 4 has been trained using 1.8 million parameters to enrich its responses. However, this data consists of a massive amount of textual elements from books, websites, and more. In terms of accuracy for software development, GitHub Copilot’s coding can be more reliable compared to ChatGPT’s coding.

Summarizing GitHub Copilot vs. ChatGPT

ChatGPT vs. GitHub Copilot: Which is better for Software development?

The twin titans of the tech world- GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT are equally important. However, as for the software development industry, GitHub Copilot stands out. The tool is designed to assist the global community of developers and has the ability to generate high-quality codes.

It is well-versed in helping developers build products or helping learners learn coding. So, in the always-evolving IT industry, GitHub Copilot is certainly the right tool to pick.

FAQs:

1. Is ChatGPT as good as GitHub Copilot?

ChatGPT is a great tool to get answers to general questions. You can use it to find bugs in codes as well. However, for contextual coding, GitHub Copilot is a much more advanced option.

2. How much does GitHub Copilot cost?

The minimum cost of availing GitHub Copilot’s subscription is $10 per month. There is a $100 per year cost as well. At the time of writing this answer, the tool also comes with a 30-day free trial.

3. Is GitHub Copilot no longer free?

GitHub Copilot comes with a free trial but post-trial users will have to pay to access its services.

4. What is better than GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is a perfect tool in its own right but if you are looking for alternatives, you can try names like Tabnine, Captain Stack, Second Mate, and even the GPT-4 itself.

5. Is GitHub Copilot better than Tabnine?

GitHub Copilot is better for assisting with the software development process. Tabnine, however, offers a variety of code editors.

6. Does GitHub Copilot use ChatGPT?

Yes, GitHub Copilot incorporates the GPT-3 model to generate humanized responses. This helps the tool understand queries and contexts better.