Chapter 1: Einstein for Developers | Spring '24 Developer Preview: Release Readiness Live

Summary

Ana, a Salesforce product manager, introduces Einstein for developers, an AI assistant in open Beta designed to enhance productivity within IDEs. She highlights new features like clear prompt guidelines, test case generation for Apex to simplify testing, and inline code completion for efficient coding. Ana demonstrates these features in Code Builder, Salesforce's web-based IDE, showcasing how Einstein can generate responses with syntax highlighting and assist in creating test files and code completions.

Takeaways

• 🚀 Einstein for developers is an AI assistant tool by Salesforce that enhances productivity within the development environment.
• 📝 The tool recently entered open Beta at Dreamforce, indicating a significant milestone in its development.
• 📖 Clear guidelines have been provided to help users write more effective prompts for the AI, ensuring better task execution.
• 🔍 Test case generation for Apex is a new feature that assists developers in starting with testing, a crucial aspect of development.
• ✏️ Inline code completion is now available, allowing developers to see code suggestions within their editor, streamlining the coding process.
• 🛠️ Code Builder is a web-based IDE by Salesforce that offers a comprehensive set of tools for coding, debugging, and testing.
• 🔗 The Einstein sidebar in Code Builder allows users to input natural language prompts to interact with the AI assistant.
• 💡 Including relevant metadata and schema information in prompts is crucial for the AI to generate accurate and context-aware responses.
• 📝 Syntax highlighting in generated responses is a new feature that improves readability and understanding of the AI's output.
• 🔧 The 'refresh s object definitions' command is essential for updating the AI's knowledge of custom or standard objects relevant to the task.
• 🔄 The 'Einstein generate a test' command automates the creation of Apex unit tests, enhancing code coverage and test automation.

Q & A

What is the role of Ana in Salesforce?

Ana is a product manager at Salesforce, focusing on the IDE experience and Einstein for developers.

What is Einstein for developers?

Einstein for developers is an AI assistant tool designed to enhance productivity within the development environment.

When did Einstein for developers go into open Beta?

Einstein for developers went into open Beta at Dreamforce the previous year.

What are the three main areas of new feature releases for Einstein for developers?

The three main areas of new feature releases are clear guidelines for writing effective prompts, test case generation for Apex, and inline code completion.

Why are clear guidelines for writing prompts important?

Clear guidelines help users write more effective prompts by providing direction on structuring prompts and including relevant information.

How does the test case generation feature for Apex work?

The test case generation feature checks for an existing Apex test file and creates one if it doesn't exist, then auto-populates it with a new Apex unit test based on the method selected.

What is inline code completion and how does it benefit developers?

Inline code completion is a feature that allows developers to see lines of code completed while inside their editor, enhancing their existing development processes without leaving their workflow.

What is Code Builder and how does it relate to Einstein for developers?

Code Builder is a web-based IDE by Salesforce that provides access to tools like coding, debugging, and CLI commands within a browser. It is where Einstein for developers is used to demonstrate its features.

What is the significance of syntax highlighting in the generated responses by Einstein?

Syntax highlighting in generated responses makes the code easier to understand and read, improving the developer's experience when using Einstein for developers.

How does the Einstein sidebar assist in the development process?

The Einstein sidebar allows developers to write prompts with natural language instructions, which Einstein then uses to generate responses, aiding in tasks like generating test cases and inline code completion.

What is the purpose of the 'refresh s object definitions' command in Einstein for developers?

The 'refresh s object definitions' command pulls down all relevant custom or standard objects needed for the task, ensuring that the metadata schema is considered when generating responses.

Outlines

00:00

💡 Introduction to Einstein for Developers

Ana, a product manager at Salesforce, introduces Einstein for Developers, an AI assistant designed to enhance productivity within the development environment. She discusses the tool's recent open Beta release at Dreamforce and emphasizes the importance of user feedback in shaping future features. Ana outlines three main areas of new feature releases: clear guidelines for effective prompt writing, test case generation for Apex, and inline code completion. She also highlights the availability of documentation and guidelines to assist users in structuring prompts for optimal results.

05:03

🛠️ Demonstrating New Features in Code Builder

Ana provides a live demo inside Code Builder, Salesforce's web-based IDE, to showcase the new features of Einstein for Developers. She starts by ensuring the Einstein extension is installed and then uses the 'refresh s object definitions' command to sync with relevant custom and standard objects. Ana writes a descriptive prompt, including metadata and best practices, to generate a response from Einstein. She also demonstrates the new syntax highlighting feature in generated responses. Next, she uses the 'Einstein generate a test' command to automatically create and populate an Apex unit test file. Finally, Ana shows off inline code completion, which allows her to stay within her workflow while receiving AI-generated code suggestions, enhancing her development process.

Keywords

💡Product Manager

A product manager is a professional responsible for guiding a product from its inception to its market presence. In the context of the video, Ana, the product manager at Salesforce, is the one who introduces and discusses the features of Einstein for developers, an AI assistant tool. She is responsible for the product's development experience and ensuring that it meets the needs of its users.

💡Einstein for Developers

Einstein for Developers is an AI assistant tool designed to enhance productivity within a development environment. As mentioned in the script, it recently went into open Beta and is aimed at helping developers complete tasks more efficiently. The tool is a central theme of the video, with Ana demonstrating its capabilities and new features.

💡Open Beta

Open Beta refers to a phase in software development where a product is made available to the public for testing and feedback. The script mentions that Einstein for Developers went into open Beta at Dreamforce, indicating that it is in a phase where user feedback is actively being sought to refine the product before its official release.

💡IDE Experience

IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment, which is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. In the video, Ana focuses on enhancing the IDE experience for Salesforce developers by introducing new features in Einstein for Developers that are designed to assist within the development environment.

💡Test Case Generation

Test Case Generation is a process where test cases are automatically created to validate the functionality of a software application. In the context of the video, Ana introduces a new feature in Einstein for Developers that allows for the automatic generation of test cases for Apex code, which is a significant time-saver for developers and helps ensure thorough testing.

💡Apex

Apex is a proprietary programming language for the Salesforce.com platform. It is used to create custom applications for the Salesforce platform. The video script discusses the new test case generation feature for Apex, highlighting how Einstein for Developers can assist developers in writing test cases for their Apex code.

💡Inline Code Completion

Inline Code Completion is a feature that provides real-time suggestions for code as a developer types. It is designed to speed up the coding process and reduce errors. Ana demonstrates this feature in the video, showing how Einstein for Developers can suggest lines of code within the editor, allowing developers to stay in their workflow while benefiting from AI-assisted coding.

💡Code Builder

Code Builder is described in the script as a web-based IDE that went to GA (General Availability) around Dreamforce of the previous year. It is a tool that allows developers to code, debug, test, and work with CLI commands all within a browser, enhancing the accessibility and convenience of development tasks.

💡Einstein Sidebar

The Einstein Sidebar is a feature within the Salesforce IDE that allows developers to interact with Einstein for Developers. As mentioned in the script, it can be opened to write prompts with natural language instructions, which Einstein then uses to generate responses. This sidebar is a key interface for developers to leverage the AI capabilities of Einstein for Developers.

💡Metadata Schema

Metadata Schema refers to the structure that defines how data is organized and stored in a system. In the context of the video, Ana emphasizes the importance of including relevant metadata when writing prompts for Einstein for Developers. This ensures that the AI assistant takes into account the correct data structure when generating responses, which is crucial for accurate and relevant code generation.

💡Syntax Highlighting

Syntax Highlighting is a feature in code editors that displays source code in different colors and fonts according to the category of terms. It is used to enhance readability and to help programmers identify specific types of syntax. The script mentions that the generated responses in Einstein for Developers now include syntax highlighting, which improves the clarity and usability of the AI-generated code.

Highlights

Einstein for developers is an AI assistant tool designed to enhance productivity in the development environment.

The tool has recently entered open Beta, showcasing new innovations.

Feedback from users is highly valued and influences future development.

New features include clear guidelines for writing effective prompts within the product.

Test case generation for Apex is a new feature to support testing efforts.

Inline code completion is now available to supercharge development processes.

Code Builder is a web-based IDE that provides a full suite of development tools within a browser.

The Einstein sidebar in Code Builder allows for natural language prompts to generate code.

Including relevant metadata in prompts ensures accurate responses from the AI.

Syntax highlighting in generated responses improves code readability.

Security enforced mode is a feature that ensures code generation adheres to security standards.

The 'refresh s object definitions' command updates the relevant custom or standard objects for task completion.

AI-generated test cases can be created and populated automatically for Apex classes.

Inline code completion suggests lines of code while editing, streamlining the development workflow.

The demo showcases the practical application of Einstein for developers within the Dreamhouse project.

The Einstein for developers extension is available in the Marketplace for easy installation and updates.

The tool's capabilities are designed to work seamlessly within the existing development environment.

Transcripts

hi everyone my name is Ana and I'm a

product manager here at Salesforce

focusing on your IDE experience and

Einstein 4 developers today I am so

excited to be here talking to y'all

about Einstein 4 developers which

recently went into open Beta at

dreamforce this past year for those of

you who aren't familiar Einstein for

developers is an AI assistant tool

designed to help you be more productive

while you're completing tasks within

your development environment and we have

a ton of new Innovations here to show

y'all today now as always we really

value the feedback that you provide us

whether through release Readiness live

or elsewhere and these are really the

key pieces of info that we use to decide

what to build next so to start off with

we have three main areas that we are

releasing new features for for E Ford so

first up we have clear guidelines to

help you write more effective prompts

within the product so for many of y'all

your you're often looking for a little

bit more Direction in how you should go

about structuring your prompts and

including the relevant pieces of

information with our recent releases

we've put out clear documentation and

guidelines showing you exactly what type

of info to include within your prompts

to get the desired responses you want

from Einstein 4

developers the next two pieces are items

that I'm super excited about that you'll

have been asking for for a while now so

first up we have test case generation

for Apex we've heard from many of you

all that testing is a first class

citizen you want to support it but often

times it's hard to get started with so

we've given you a new AI enabled feature

allowing you to get started with writing

test cases for your Apex code next we

have inline code completion so now you

can supercharge your existing

development processes by seeing lines of

code completed while you're inside of

your editor going about your day so why

don't we take a look look at all of this

in action with a

demo so today I'm inside of code builder

for those of you who aren't familiar

code Builder is our web-based IDE this

went to GA around uh dreamforce of last

year and the great thing about code

Builder is that you have access to all

of those great tools you expect from

your desktop including the ability to

code debug test work with those CLI

commands from right here within your

browser so now that I'm inside of code

Builder I will be working inside of my

Dreamhouse project today and this is an

open-source sample app that is

maintained by our wonderful developer

advocacy team here at Salesforce so the

first step to working with Einstein for

developers is going to be making sure

that you have the extension installed so

I'll head over to my Marketplace and I

can see here that I've not only got

Einstein for developers installed but I

could even update it to the latest

version if I

wanted once you've checked that you have

the extension installed you want to hit

this Einstein sidebar sidebar icon this

goes ahead and opens up the sidebar for

you here you can go ahead and write in

prompts with natural language

instructions describing the tasks that

you're looking to complete today now one

thing that's really important about

writing these prompts is that you want

to include all of the relevant

information about the task you're

looking to complete and this also

includes any medic data that you happen

to be working with behind the scenes

what we're doing is ensuring that all of

that relevant metadata schema is taken

into account when we're working with our

llm to generate those responses for you

so to help us on this task the first

step that you'll need to take as a

developer is to first first run a

command called refresh s object

definitions and essentially what this

does is it pulls down all of the re

relevant custom objects or standard

objects that you need to be working with

for your task today so once I've run

that I can go ahead and add in my prompt

here and you can see here that my prompt

is quite descriptive it's explicitly

calling out the API name for the objects

that I'm working with and it's telling

the model exactly how I want to use the

class and what types of best practices

I'd like to see followed so now that

I've got my prompt here and I've run run

refresh s object definitions I can go

ahead and hit ask behind the scenes

Einstein is hard at work coming up with

the response now the first thing that I

notice here is one of the newest

features that our team has put out which

has given us the ability to have syntax

highlighting in the generated responses

so this makes it way easier for me to

understand and read the code coming out

and you can see that in the response

we've even correctly identified the

different fields that I happen to be

working with for the objects that I

specified that's great and we even have

with security enforced

mode okay so now that I've gone ahead

and I've worked on my latest

functionality for the Einstein sidebar I

want to showcase our test case

generation feature so let's say that

you're working inside of a class today

I'm working on property controller and

I've already got this method that I've

gone through written everything out for

but now I need to generate a test so the

way that you'll go about doing this is

by going ahead right clicking and

hitting this Einstein generate a test

command behind the scenes what this is

doing is it'll check to see if you have

an existing Apex test file associated

with the class that we were just looking

at and if you don't it'll go ahead and

create it for you this is a live demo so

occasionally we don't get the full

response in there but we'll go ahead

here and again just run that same

command and we'll choose that same me

method that I was working with earlier

and now that we have the test file

created it'll just go ahead and autop

populate that new Apex unit test for me

now this test looks good so I'm going to

go ahead and hit accept and just like

that I've got a little bit more Apex

code

coverage okay now last but not least I

want to show off our inline code

completion

capabilities this one is one of my

personal favorites because I get to stay

in my existing workflow

while taking advantage of these new AI

functionalities so here I'm going about

what I typically do with my or enabled

annotation I'm going to create my new

method

here I'll add in the parameters that

we're working

with

and from here I can go ahead and start

seeing completions generated for me from

right there inside of the method body

now if you want to go ahead and hit

accept you can Tab and see those

completions being accepted and it'll

continue to give you more completions

based off of the tasks that you're

looking to complete in this case I'm

pretty okay with what we have so far I

might go in later add in a little bit

more but for now I've gotten in that

initial scaffold of the method that I

was working with using our new inline

code completion

capabilities so I know we talked about a

lot of different things today we got a

chance to see those more effective

prompt writing guidelines in action we

got to see our test case generation

feature and inline code completion so

now I think is a great time for us to go

back to mohi thanks y'all