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This documentation applies to the on-premises installation of watsonx Code Assistant on IBM Software Hub. For IBM Cloud documentation, see Translating code from one language to another.

Translating code from one language to another

Use the /translate command in the chat window to translate code from one language to the other.

Chat syntax for translating code

The chat syntax is: /translate [from <source_language>] to <target_language> (<code reference> | <code snippet>) [additional instructions]

  • [from <source_language>] is optional and is automatically detected if not specified in the command. It is recommended to specify the source language if the quality of the translation response is not good enough.

  • <target_language> is required. Provide complete language names without spaces, such as TypeScript instead of Type Script or JavaScript instead of Java Script.

  • (<code reference> | <code snippet>). Along with a target language, you can include either a code reference or a code snippet. Use one reference or snippet at a time.

    • <code reference>. Refer to a file, method, or class name from active workspace by using an @ symbol. For example:

      /translate to java @get_metric_type
      
    • <code snippet>. Enclose code snippets in code backticks. For example:

      /translate to java
      
      ```
      print('Hello World')
      ```
      
  • [additional instructions] is optional.

    For example: /translate to java @get_user_list Copy the comments from this function to the translated code