AI Can Code Apps, But Don't Let It Design the Architecture

AI Can Code Apps, But Don't Let It Design the Architecture

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly powerful, especially in the field of programming. We have seen the emergence of AI tools that can automatically generate source code based on requirements described in natural language. This opens a new era where application development becomes faster and easier than ever. However, do not rush to leave all the work to AI, especially the software architecture design stage. This article will delve into this issue, helping you better understand the capabilities and limitations of AI in programming, thereby making informed decisions when applying this technology to your projects.

AI Programming: Amazing Possibilities

Recent advances in deep learning have created AI models that can write impressive code. They can:

• Generate code from description: You can describe the function of a code segment in Vietnamese, and AI will generate the corresponding source code in popular programming languages such as Python, Java, JavaScript.
• Code completion: As you write code, AI can suggest next lines of code, helping you write faster and reduce errors.
• Find and fix bugs: AI can analyze source code to find potential bugs and even fix them automatically.
• Code optimization: AI can analyze code performance and suggest changes to improve speed and resource efficiency.

For example, you want to create a function to calculate the sum of two numbers. You just need to describe this requirement to AI, and it will automatically generate the following code (example in Python):

def sumAll(a, b): 
      return a + b

Clearly, AI has saved you a significant amount of time and effort in writing code.

Software Architecture: Why Do People Still Matter?

Software architecture is the high-level design of an application. It defines the overall structure, the major components, how they interact with each other, and the technologies used. A good architecture ensures that the application is stable, easy to maintain, easy to extend, and meets performance and security requirements.

While AI can write code very well, it is still limited in designing software architecture. Here are some key reasons:

• Lack of understanding of business context: AI cannot clearly understand the business requirements, strategic goals, and specific constraints of the project. Software architects need to have deep knowledge of the business domain to make appropriate decisions.
• Difficulty in handling non-functional factors: In addition to functional requirements (e.g. login, payment features), architecture must also consider non-functional factors such as performance, security, scalability, reliability. AI can have a difficult time balancing these factors and making optimal decisions.
• Lack of creativity and critical thinking: Architectural design requires creativity to find unique solutions and critical thinking to evaluate different options. Current AI is still limited in these capabilities.
• Difficulty managing complexity: Modern applications are often complex, with many components and complex relationships. Software architects need to be able to manage this complexity and ensure that the components work together harmoniously. AI can have difficulty handling such complex systems.

To understand better, consider an example. Suppose you want to build an e-commerce application. AI can help you write code for functions like adding products to cart, checkout, order management. However, AI cannot decide on its own:

• Which database should I use (e.g. MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB)?
• Should application architecture be monolithic or microservices?
• Which cloud platform should the system be deployed on (e.g. AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)?
• What security measures should be taken to protect user data?

These decisions require a deep understanding of the business requirements, technical factors, and project constraints. They should be made by experienced software architects.

Conclude

AI is a powerful tool that can help us write code faster and more efficiently. However, it cannot completely replace the human role in designing software architecture. Software architects are still needed to understand business requirements, manage complexity, make strategic decisions, and ensure that applications meet performance, security, and scalability requirements.

In the future, AI will likely play a larger role in assisting architectural design. However, the combination of AI and humans will be the most effective way to build high-quality applications.