Mozilla will use AI coding assistant to preemptively catch Firefox bugs

Mozilla will start using Clever-Commit, an AI coding assistant developed by Ubisoft, to make the Firefox code-writing process more efficient and to prevent the introduction of bugs in the code.

How does Clever-Commit work?

“By combining data from the bug tracking system and the version control system (aka changes in the code base), Clever-Commit uses artificial intelligence to detect patterns of programming mistakes based on the history of the development of the software. This allows us to address bugs at a stage when fixing a bug is a lot cheaper and less time-consuming, than upon release,” Sylvestre Ledru, Mozilla’s Firefox release manager, explained.

The Firefox engineering team will initially use the tool during its code review phase. If it proves to be useful, they will use in at other stages of the code-writing process, as well as in the testing and release process.

Mozilla hopes that the integration of Clever-Commit into the full Firefox developer workflow could help catch up to 3 to 4 out of 5 bugs before they are introduced into the code.

“Fixing bugs is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. Even more so for large and complex bodies of code like browsers and AAA games,” Ledru pointed out.

“By incorporating Clever-Commit into our developer workflow, we will improve Firefox’s code-writing process by spotting bug patterns and flagging past patches earlier, at a stage when fixing a bug is a lot cheaper than upon release. This in turn will allow us to ship even more stable versions of Firefox and provide even better browsing experiences to Firefox users.”

Ubisoft is also getting something out of this deal: Mozilla’s experts will contribute programming language expertise in Rust, C++ and Javascript, and in C++ code analysis and analysis of bug tracking systems, to help make the tool even more useful.