ChatGPT vs Bard: Which is better for coding?

Artificial intelligence has made impressive strides in recent years, giving rise to powerful language models like Google’s Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. These AI chatbots can engage in human-like conversations, answer questions, and even assist with tasks like writing and coding. But when it comes to programming specifically, which one is better – Bard or ChatGPT? Let’s dive in and compare these two AI tools for coding.

How Bard and ChatGPT Handle Coding Queries

Both Bard and ChatGPT are built on large language models trained on vast amounts of online data, including documentation and code snippets. This allows them to understand and respond to a wide range of coding-related queries. However, there are some differences in how each chatbot approaches programming questions.

Bard tends to provide more concise and direct answers to coding questions. If you ask it to explain a specific programming concept or provide a code example, it will generate a tight, focused response. Bard’s coding knowledge seems broad but perhaps not as deep.

ChatGPT, on the other hand, often gives more verbose and detailed explanations when asked about coding topics. It tends to elaborate more and provide longer code snippets to illustrate its points. ChatGPT’s responses read more like a knowledgeable tutor comprehensively explaining something.

So in terms of their communication styles, Bard is more succinct while ChatGPT is more expansive when handling coding queries. But what about the technical accuracy and depth of their coding knowledge?

Coding Capabilities of Bard vs ChatGPT

Both AI chatbots have been trained on a large corpus of coding information, but there appear to be some differences in their technical coding capabilities.

In general, ChatGPT seems to have an edge over Bard when it comes to depth of coding knowledge and ability to provide accurate, working code snippets, especially for more complex queries. ChatGPT can competently handle a wider range of programming languages and frameworks.

Bard is no coding slouch and can certainly help with programming questions, but it seems to stumble more often than ChatGPT when presented with very advanced, niche coding scenarios. Bard’s code snippets, while usually close, more frequently have small errors compared to ChatGPT.

Overall, ChatGPT appears to be the more reliable and comprehensive coding assistant, while Bard is still very capable but less consistent, especially for complex queries. Your mileage may vary depending on the specific programming use case.

Other Factors to Consider

Coding capability is important, but there are other factors to weigh when comparing Bard and ChatGPT:

• ChatGPT remembers context better throughout a conversation, which is helpful for back-and-forth discussions about a coding problem. Bard is more prone to forgetting earlier parts of the conversation.
• Bard is better at analyzing and commenting on existing blocks of code you show it. ChatGPT can do this too but tends to suggest rewriting the code from scratch more often.
• ChatGPT is generally better at following complex, multi-step instructions for coding tasks. Bard gets tripped up more easily and needs instructions broken down into very simple steps.