AI Programming Tools: Is Cloud the Endgame?
AI Coding Tools: Cloud vs. IDE vs. Terminal. Explore the future of AI programming, key capabilities, and which format leads.
“AI Disruption” Publication 7800 Subscriptions 20% Discount Offer Link.
Strictly speaking, there are 5 product formats, but they can be consolidated into 3 categories:
Standalone IDE (and IDE plugins)
Cursor, Github Copilot, Windsurf, Cline, Augment Code
Wenxin Kuaima, Tongyi Lingma, Tencent CodeBuddy, Trae
Open-source versions: RooCode, Zed
IDE capabilities basically consist of three major components: Autocomplete - this is the most basic and high-frequency capability, existing as real-time, inline code suggestions; Chat - this is the interactive dialogue layer where developers can ask questions, explain code, and generate code snippets through natural language; Agent - this is the autonomous execution layer.
AI is no longer passively responsive but can actively plan and execute complex tasks spanning multiple files and steps, such as completing a feature development or fixing a bug.
Terminal
Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI
Qwen Code, Kode, etc.
Cloud (and Github bot mode)
Codex, Devin, OpenHands (has an open-source version)