Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has recently launched Code Llama, an advanced AI tool designed specifically for writing and correcting code. This new tool, unlike chatbots such as ChatGPT or Bard, focuses solely on assisting programmers in their coding tasks. Code Llama is based on LLaMA 2, a powerful Mass Language Model (LLM) created by Meta.
One of the notable features of Code Llama is its compatibility with popular programming languages such as Python, Javascript, PHP, C++, C#, and Bash. It allows programmers to complete blocks of code, find bugs, recommend fixes, and even generate natural language explanations for code snippets.
Meta will be releasing three variants of Code Llama. The foundational model, Code Flame, is dedicated to code generation. Code Flame-Python is a specialized version tailored specifically for the Python programming language. Code Flame-Instruct is optimized for understanding natural language instructions.
It’s important to note that Meta advises against using Code Llama or Code Llama-Python for tasks that require natural language instructions as input. These models are designed to work with code-related tasks. On the other hand, Code Llama-Instruct is specifically built to comprehend and fulfill human prompts expressed in natural language.
Meta acknowledges that not all AI-based coding tasks require the same resources or have equal complexity. Hence, the company will offer three different sizes of Code Llama models. The smallest model comes with 7 billion parameters, the intermediate model with 13 billion parameters, and the largest with 34 billion parameters. These models have been trained using an extensive dataset, including 500 billion data tokens related to programming.
The various sizes of Code Llama models provide different benefits. The smaller model is suitable for single GPU machines and offers faster responses for tasks like code completion. In contrast, the larger model with 34 billion parameters offers more precise results but is not optimized for real-time work.
As the popularity of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Bard grows, concerns about their potential misuse also arise. Meta has taken measures to mitigate the risk of Code Llama being used to generate malicious code. They conducted a quantitative assessment of the model’s risk by comparing its responses to requests for malicious code with those of ChatGPT. The results showed that Code Llama provided safer responses.
In conclusion, Code Llama is an advanced AI tool launched by Meta to assist programmers in writing and correcting code. It offers compatibility with popular programming languages, the ability to complete code blocks, find bugs, recommend fixes, and generate natural language explanations. With different variants and sizes, Code Llama provides programmers with flexibility and efficiency in their coding tasks while also addressing concerns about potential misuse.
