[hnrodey]

Three options I've tried:

- Copilot using Visual Studio and VS Code

- ChatGPT Plus / Claude, copy/pasting back and forth

- Cursor, free trial and w/ Claude api key

Copilot was like 30/70 good-to-bad. The autocomplete hijacks my mind whereby creating a mental block at my ability to write the next token of code. The suggestions were occasionally amazing, but multiple times it introduced a subtle bug that I missed and later spent hours debugging. Not really a time saver. I quit Copilot just as they were introducing the embedded chat feature so maybe it's got better.

In Visual Studio, I thought Copilot was garbage. The results (compared to using in VS Code) were just awful. The VS extension felt unrefined and lacking.

ChatGPT / Claude - this is a decent way to get AI programming. Multiple times it fixed bugs for me that just simply blew me away with it's ability to understand the code and fix it. Love it's ability to scaffold large chunks of working code so I can then get busy enhancing it for the real stuff. Often, it will suggest code using older version of a framework or API so it's necessary to prompt it with stuff like "For Next.js, use code from v14 and the app router". There is thought required that goes into the prompt to increase chances of getting it right the first time.

Cursor - ah, Cursor. Thus far, my favorite. I went through my free trial and opted into the free plan. The embedded sidebar is nice for AI chat - all of the benefits of using ChatGPT/Claude but keeping me directly in the "IDE". The cost is relatively cheap when hooked to my Claude api key. I like the ability to ask questions about specific lines of code (embedded in the current window), or add multiple files to the chat window to give it more context.

Cursor does a great job at keeping you in the code the entire time so there's less jumping from Cursor to browser and back.

Winner: Cursor

As a C#/Java backend developer, you might not like leaving IntelliJ or Visual Studio to use Cursor or VS Code. Very understandable. In that case, I'd probably stick to using ChatGPT Plus or paid Claude. I suggest the premium versions so for premium uptime access to the services and higher limits for their flagship models.

The free versions might get you by, but expect to be kicked out of them from time to time based on system demand.