Meta introduces Code Llama, an AI tool for Coding

An AI-based coding tool called Code Llama has been released by Facebook's parent company, Meta.

The Code Llama, a large language model (LLM) that can generate and discuss code using text prompts, was made public by Meta on August 24, 2023. For publicly accessible LLMs on coding projects, Code Llama is cutting-edge. It might speed up and streamline development operations while lowering entry barriers for those just starting out in coding. The potential for using Code Llama as a productivity and training tool to assist programmers in creating more robust, well-documented software exists.

​The release of Code Llama for both research and commercial usage under the same community license as Llama 2 demonstrates Meta's belief that an open approach to AI is optimal for producing new AI tools that are innovative, safe, and responsible.

What is Code Llama?

​Llama 2 was further trained on its code-specific datasets, sampling more data from the same dataset for longer, to produce Code Llama, a code-specific variant of Llama 2. In essence, Code Llama offers improved coding abilities. With both code and natural language prompts, it can produce both code and natural language regarding code. Debugging and code completion are other uses for it. Python, C++, Java, PHP, Typescript (Javascript), C#, Bash, and other of today's most widely used programming languages are among those that are supported.

​According to Meta, they'll be releasing Code Llama in three sizes, each with 7B, 13B, and 34B parameters. These models have each been trained using 500B tokens of code and data pertaining to code. The base and instruct models for the 7B and 13B have also been taught to support activities like code completion right out of the box thanks to their fill-in-the-middle (FIM) functionality, which lets them insert code into already-written code.
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Two other Code Llama variants, Code Llama-Python and Code Llama-Instruct, have also been improved.

What are Code Llama-Python and Code Llama-Instruct?

Code Llama-Python is a dialect of Code Llama that has been further optimized on 100 billion tokens of Python code. A specific model, according to Meta, adds value because Python is the most benchmarked language for code generation and because Python and PyTorch are widely used in the AI field.

Code Llama-Instruct is a refined and aligned version of Code Llama for instructions. The training process is continued, but with a different goal in mind during instruction tuning. A natural language instruction input and the anticipated outcome are provided to the model. As a result, it is better able to determine what users anticipate from their cues. Since Code Llama-Instruct has been adjusted to produce helpful and secure replies in natural language, Meta advises using Code Llama-Instruct versions whenever utilizing Code Llama for code production.

What can Code Llama do?

​Software engineers in all fields are supported by Code Llama, including those in academia, business, open-source initiatives, NGOs, and government. There are, however, a great many more use cases to support. Meta anticipates that Code Llama will motivate others to use Llama 2 to develop fresh, cutting-edge tools for both academic and industrial applications.