By Kolade Ojo
Microchip Technology is democratizing coding, in a sense. Having found artificial intelligence quite useful in its internal operations, the company recently rolled out its MPLAB AI coding assistant program, a free tool it says can reduce developer time by more than 40 percent.
The AI coding assistant responds to the developers’ input and anticipates the next coding moves, offering “relevant real-time assistance” with verification and error detection while matching the programming to existing documentation to further improve performance and efficiency, according to company executives.
“One of the most exciting offerings we’ve introduced recently is the AI Code configurator, which will reduce developer cycle time in terms of developing software for all of our microcontrollers,” said Rich Simoncic, COO of Microchip, during an interview with editors of the Ojo-Yoshida Report at last week’s Embedded World Show in Nuremberg, Germany. “It will figure out what you’re programming and start to fill in the code, it will comment on that code, and quality check the code once you’re in the environment.”
That’s not all. The Microchip coding assistant is regularly updated with datasheet and can “vectorize all the datasheets so you can easily go to the exact position in a 1,500-page datasheet and find information,” Simoncic added. In addition, the coding assistant can seek additional information for the developer from other sources, including YouTube videos and training materials.
“If that still doesn’t get you to the right answer, you can hit another button on the screen and talk to a live technical expert to walk you through that code that you’re generating,” he said.
The company said the program is being offered for free to software developers with a Microchip chatbot that allows developers to engage with other experts directly for additional information and assistance. The information provided would be specific to the developers’ need, ensuring that irrelevant information can be excluded, saving development time, according to Rodger Richey, vice president of development systems and academic programs at Microchip.
“The MPLABAI Coding Assistant represents a significant leap forward in software development and will transform how engineers work with Microchip products,” Richey said. “We’re harnessing the power of AI to provide interactive, real-time support that helps developers create better software, more quickly and with less hassle.”
The Ojo-Yoshida Report asked Simoncic about the program at the Embedded World Show. The following is a clip from the discussion:
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Kolade Ojo is a contributing writer with the Ojo-Ojo-Yoshida Report. He focuses on the nexus between technology and semiconductor innovations, global finance and economy and enterprise management systems and processes. He can be reached at [email protected].
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