Best Pair Programming Tools in Japan

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding companion that helps developers write, debug, and refactor code faster than ever. Built directly into popular IDEs like VS Code, JetBrains, and Visual Studio, Copilot suggests context-aware code completions and automates repetitive tasks. With Agent Mode, Copilot can plan, write, test, and even submit pull requests—acting like an onboarded team member that understands your repositories. Developers can toggle between advanced models such as GPT-5, Claude Opus 4.1, and Gemini 2.5 Pro to balance speed and depth. Its Copilot Chat and Spaces features bring code, documentation, and project notes together for richer, team-tailored insights. Whether you’re building solo or leading an enterprise project, Copilot enhances productivity and creativity across the entire software lifecycle. The GitHub Copilot coding agent streamlines development by automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, allowing developers to focus on more complex coding.

Microsoft Visual Studio is the industry-leading integrated development environment (IDE) for building modern applications across desktop, mobile, cloud, and web. It empowers developers to write, refactor, debug, test, and deploy software faster with intelligent assistance powered by GitHub Copilot and AI-driven workflows. With Agent Mode, developers can automate repetitive coding tasks, optimize performance, and receive contextual help directly in the IDE. The suite includes Visual Studio 2022, the comprehensive IDE for .NET and C++ development on Windows, and Visual Studio Code, the lightweight, cross-platform editor supporting JavaScript, Python, and dozens of other languages. Visual Studio integrates seamlessly with Azure, GitHub, and CI/CD pipelines, enabling teams to collaborate and ship code efficiently. Trusted by millions worldwide, Visual Studio provides the tools and intelligence developers need to build reliable, scalable, and secure applications from concept to release.

Cursor is an advanced AI-powered IDE designed to make developers exponentially more productive. Built with deep codebase understanding and intelligent automation, it combines natural language interaction with precise, context-aware editing tools. Its Agent feature acts as a human-AI coding partner capable of planning and executing entire development workflows, while the Tab model delivers remarkably accurate autocompletion and targeted suggestions. Cursor seamlessly integrates across environments—from GitHub and Slack to the command line—ensuring AI assistance is available wherever you code. Supporting leading models like GPT-5, Claude Sonnet, Gemini Pro, and Grok Code, it gives developers full control over autonomy and model selection. Fast, intuitive, and built for serious builders, Cursor is redefining what an IDE can be.

Aider lets you pair program with LLMs, to edit code in your local git repository. Start a new project or work with an existing git repo. Aider works best with GPT-4o & Claude 3.5 Sonnet and can connect to almost any LLM. Aider has one of the top scores on SWE Bench. SWE Bench is a challenging software engineering benchmark where aider solved real GitHub issues from popular open source projects like django, scikitlearn, matplotlib, etc.