Evolution of Software Development: Role of AI in Software Development and the Future

• By Paramjit Singh

• 13th December 2023

The world is manifesting whimsical inventions from robots to flying cars through Artificial Intelligence. Software development is one of the booming IT fields across the globe. This is when it starts making sense to trickle down the essence of AI assisted software development in the industry.

The role of AI in software development is vital in the current times. AI software development process felt surreal five years ago from today. No wonder the job is made easy for developers via the potent tool, AI! With the exponential adoption of AI globally, it is essential to leverage AI for top-notch quality software products and reduce the demand-supply gap in the market.

Let’s explore the gigantic scope of AI assisted software development through the role of AI in software development and the related AI tools to power AI software development process, applications of AI in software development, benefits of leveraging AI driven software development, and answer the question of the decade, Will AI take over software development?

What is AI? How is It Getting Adopted in the Software Development Industry?

ChatGPT currently has 180.5 million users, and I’m sure you must be an active user of ChatGPT as well! It is a GPT-powered AI tool taking the world by storm. However, it makes up only 1% of the AI applications. There are tons of applications and practical realizations of AI, and AI assisted software development is one of them.

Before the 20^th century, AI was a dream seen by scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. In the blink of an eye, AI has spread its wings in every nook and corner of the world. From medicine to engineering, AI is the future and the role of AI in software development is inevitable.

Definition of AI:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the new-age technology that aims to bridge the gap between ‘human’ thinking and ‘machine’ thinking. It focuses on creating algorithms using Machine Learning and Deep Learning models to program machines. These machines can then be used to realize practical applications in various industries such as software engineering, medicine, e-commerce, and much more.

After realizing the infinite applications and role of AI in software development, using AI for software development is a no-brainer. Today, AI and software engineering go hand-in-hand.

There are four main ways the world is adopting AI for software engineering. These are:

• Streamlining AI software development process using various AI-powered code editing tools.
• High-quality software testing.
• Building no-code/low-code software development platforms.
• Automating CI/CD pipelines

It’s time to browse these roles of Artificial Intelligence in software engineering.

What is the Role of AI in Software Development? Explore Tools to Streamline Software Development Processes

The AI software development process presents one of the most refined and optimized versions of software engineering. The role of Artificial Intelligence in in software development is essential, valuable, and incessant.

Let’s dive into the roles of AI assisted software development:

1. Streamlining the AI software development process

If you’re a Developer, you can harness the power of AI to edit, iterate or suggest codes for you. However, if you’re a non-Developer, you can use Low-Code/No-Code platforms to publish code. Both the fields are discussed below.

A: Edit code:

Various software development AI tools help write and edit code snippets during the software development process. These tools cut the slack by working on editing code, writing reiterative codes, and converting comments into codes.

Some of the most popular AI coding assistants are mentioned below:

• GitHub Copilot:

Writing efficient code is crucial for software developers for accuracy, rapid deployment and code readability. GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered code development tool created by GitHub and OpenAI, caters to this requirement. You can also integrate it into IDEs such as Visual Studio, etc.

• Amazon CodeGuru:

This tool highlights code vulnerabilities for software developers, thus saving them time. It uses static application security testing (SAST) that involves Machine Learning and automated reasoning.

• OpenAI Codex:

OpenAI Codex uses Natural Language prompting to enable highly efficient code writing. It also provides quick setup and improves productivity through code completion.

B: Building no-code/low-code software development platforms

It can be time-consuming to learn coding from scratch if you wish to develop your own website. This is when you can either hire a software developer or use AI for software development. It is also a tedious task for software developers to work on designing algorithms and typing long lines of code.

The no-code/low-code platforms are built to provide efficient code-generating solutions through drag and drop or via a questionnaire.

Some noteworthy low/no-code software development platforms are as follows:

• Apple CreateML:

Through this AI-powered no-code application development tool, one can create over-the-top iOS applications by simply using drag-and-drop functionality. You can use image recognition, text processing and much more.

Note: If you want to create top-notch iOS applications for your business, Deftsoft can help you build customer-centric, high-quality iOS apps via an expert-level team of iOS developers.

• PyCaret:

It is a low-code model training tool that consists of numerous Python libraries. It has a lot of pre-configured functions and wrappers. A little tech knowledge is required to use this tool.

2. High-quality software testing

The role of AI in software development is incessant when it comes to software testing. Software developers can proactively test their codes by using AI assisted software development. The software testing tools are built on Machine Learning models are the ‘machines’ are fed past data to efficiently test codes, predict potential test flows and recognize software development roadblocks productively.

Some of the most popular software testing tools for the AI software development process are as follows:

• Applitools:

Applitools is an AI-powered visual testing and monitoring tool that helps identify visual bugs in the software development process while creating apps. You can run tests using this tool.

• Katalon:

Katalon is an advanced, self-optimizing AI-powered software development testing tool for data generation. It uses an integrated GPT service to curate manual test cases. It does so by extracting data from Jira.

3. Automating CI/CD pipelines:

Various aspects of AI software development process can be streamlined by automating operational workflows. CI/CD pipelines can be optimized by leveraging the power of AI for software development.

Some exceptional AI tools to use Artificial Intelligence in software development are mentioned as follows:

• GitGuardian:

It takes a complete DevOps workforce to optimize CI/CD pipelines, read and scan code for inefficiencies and pitfalls in the deployment process. GitGuardian is an AI-powered tool that deploys AI in software development to build foolproof CI/CD pipelines.

• CircleCI:

It is yet another AI tool that optimizes IT operational workflows. This tool allows professionals to deploy efficiently and iterate quickly. One can also automate machine learning workflows using CircleCI.

What are the Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Software Development?

There is a chain of concurrent events that takes place in the software development process. The rate at which AI software development is gaining popularity in the industry is noteworthy. The AI driven software development revenue is expected to reach $126 billion by 2025.

The above bar graph is solid evidence to the fact that the role of AI in software development is only going to increase. The applications of AI software development are as follows:

1. Software prototyping:

The first step to software creation is building a prototype of it. This involves code refinement, running iterative tasks, code testing, running speed, and more. Using AI for software development can help create software prototypes efficiently and quickly. This, in turn, speeds up the process of development cycles and deployment processes.

2. Digital documentation:

Eliminating the use of pen and paper makes it easier to streamline workflows using AI software development tools for documentation. This enhances workflow lifecycle speed. DocifyAI is a time-saving documentation and code comment generator tool helpful in improving code quality and efficiency.

3. Detecting bugs:

Looking for bugs in the code is one of the most tedious tasks humans ever know! This is why incorporating AI driven software development solutions is valuable. AI assisted software development tools, specially made to identify bugs, look for code errors by analyzing data flows, code patterns, and bottlenecks in the code generation. These AI tools minimize the chances of poor user experience.

4. Budgeting software development process:

AI and software development go hand-in-hand when calculating costs, estimating workflow durations and meeting work deadlines. The process of software development can be optimized by feeding in the documentation to AI-powered tools for designing, evaluating and budgeting costs for various requirements.

5. Predictive analysis:

Artificial Intelligence tools can also help formulate optimal project management workflows through predictive analysis. It analyzes patterns through statistical data, previous workflow history and project timelines. This way, you can harness AI’s power to predict project timelines, and bottlenecks in the workflows and forecast future project results.

6. Quality check:

Using AI for software development is significantly valuable when it comes to testing. You can test code’s functionality by running test scenarios to cross-check software functionality. Thus, it helps to point out software vulnerabilities that need to be fixed. Using AI assisted software development tools for testing saves time than running manual tests.

7. Software security:

Software development AI tools can be fed the guidelines of creating a particular software. The built machine learning models by the business organization can be reiterated by the AI. In this manner, intellectual property can be created for specific machine-learning models. This ensures the company software’s utmost security.

Thus, all the above-mentioned applications of Artificial Intelligence back up the fact that the role of AI in software development is valuable, essential and productive.

Benefits of AI for Software Development

After exploring the role of AI in software development, let’s now roll over the advantages of AI. There are many benefits of using Artificial Intelligence in software development. Some of the significant ones are as follows:

• Improved efficiency:

From large enterprises to medium-sized teams, using AI for software development is a game changer. You can downsize the team size and efficiently enhance software service/product outcomes.

• Increased accuracy:

AI software development can reduce the chances of human error. This leads to enhanced code quality and high-level accuracy, thus leading to increased customer satisfaction.

• Enhanced creativity:

The AI assisted software development process has transcend all the barriers of creative limitations. You can experiment with AI to perform A/B testing and create websites based on historical user data. This practice leads to enhanced creativity and freedom to create.

• Better code quality:

Since AI tests the human-written code, it checks for workflow vulnerabilities, run time, accuracy, and other vital parameters for enhanced code quality.

• Faster time to market:

Using AI for software development has reduced the time between prototyping and the last step of making the app go live. Everything can be managed through AI, be it documentation, fixing code bugs, feedback management, meeting deadlines, and much more.

Will AI Take over Software Development?

The amalgamation of Artificial Intelligence and Software Development is inevitable, considering the rapid rate of modernization. Thus, AI is the future and the role of AI in software development is indispensable. It doesn’t mean that AI will take over software developers. The standards have been raised with the incorporation of AI in software development.

Therefore, AI will not take over the computer science or software development industry. The two should work hand-in-hand for efficient project handling, code editing, locating bugs, time management, meeting deadlines, optimizing CI/CD pipelines, and realizing the software into a final product. AI and software development are here to stay since human intervention and creativity are essential in the AI software development process.

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It’s a Wrap!

The intervention of AI in software development is an enormous revolution. It marks the beginning of an era ahead of its time. The world is rapidly adapting to Artificial Intelligence in every industry, healthcare, e-commerce, real estate, medicine, logistics, etc. To conclude, AI and software development are here to move hand-in-hand and the role of AI in software development contributes to a utopian society.

Quick software delivery is the essence of AI driven software development, which is what the Deftsoft team delivers!

FAQs:

1. How to use AI in software development?

The key ways to implement AI in software development are to prepare a software prototype, identify bugs in the code, code writing suggestions documentation, achieve deadlines, budget the software development process, estimate costs of designing/building, feedback management, and much more.

• What is the role of AI in software development?

AI has transformed the dynamics of the software development industry. AI intervention makes software development processes more efficient, productive, and faster.

• What is the importance of Artificial Intelligence in software testing?

AI tools in software testing help in cost optimization by running tests automatically and identifying code vulnerabilities. This also creates a history of all the tests run that can help in predictive analysis later. Therefore, using AI for software development saves time and capital.

• Is AI taking over software engineering?

There is no threat to software engineers because of AI. Software development demands human intervention because of humans’ creativity and work ethic. So, AI is only going to help software engineers/developers improve their work speed, efficiency, and productivity.

• Which AI tools can be used to write code?

AI tools such as Amazon CodeGuru, GitHub Copilot, and OpenAI Codex can help software developers write code. These tools can review principles, suggest writing code, and iterate tedious tasks.