Amazon Q Developer: Your AI Coding Assistant Gets Smarter in 2025
Amazon Q Developer has evolved from a simple code completion tool to a full-fledged AI development partner. It now understands your entire codebase, generates tests, and can even implement features from natural language descriptions.
Amazon Q Developer Capabilities
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Code Generation | Generate functions, classes, tests from comments |
| Code Transformation | Upgrade Java 8→17, Python 2→3 automatically |
| Security Scanning | Find and fix vulnerabilities in real-time |
| Feature Development | Implement features from descriptions (/dev) |
| Documentation | Generate READMEs, API docs, comments |
Using /dev for Feature Implementation
# In VS Code with Amazon Q:
# Type /dev and describe what you want
/dev Add a REST endpoint that allows users to upload
profile pictures to S3, resize them to 200x200,
and store the URL in DynamoDB
# Q Developer will:
# 1. Analyze your existing code structure
# 2. Generate the endpoint code
# 3. Add S3 and DynamoDB integration
# 4. Include error handling
# 5. Create unit tests
Code Transformation: Java Upgrade
# Before: Java 8 code
List<String> names = users.stream()
.filter(u -> u.isActive())
.map(u -> u.getName())
.collect(Collectors.toList());
# After: Java 17 (auto-transformed)
var names = users.stream()
.filter(User::isActive)
.map(User::getName)
.toList();
# Q also updates:
# - pom.xml/build.gradle
# - Deprecated API usage
# - New language features
Q in the AWS Console
Q Developer also works in the AWS Console:
- “How do I create a VPC with private subnets?”
- “Why is my Lambda timing out?”
- “Show me the IAM policy for S3 read-only access”
- “What’s causing high costs in my account?”
Pricing
- Free Tier: Basic code suggestions, security scans
- Pro ($19/user/month): Full features, /dev, transformations
