What is a computer bot?

Introduction

A bot is a software application that runs automated tasks over the Internet. Here in this article, we are going to discuss, what does a bot mean, how to develop a bot, and type of bots, etc.

What is BOT?

In the computer world a bot is a software application that runs automated tasks over the Internet. Bots provide an experience that feels less like using a computer and more like dealing with a person - or at least an intelligent robot.

Getting Started

Bots perform tasks that are simple and structurally repetitive at a much faster rate than a person. Bot allows users to communicate with smart solutions, as though they are talking to someone else.

The most extensive use of bots is for web crawling, in which an automated script fetches, analyzes, and files information from web servers. More than half of all web traffic is generated by bots.

How to Make a Bot?

There are lots of bot framework is available in the computer world to develop a bot in a different language. The most familiar and popular framework is Microsoft Bot Framework. It enables developers to build bots in the .net framework.

Microsoft bot framework enables building and connecting intelligent bots that can interact with the users in the natural language, in multiple ways for example websites or applications like Skype, Cortana, teams, etc.

With this framework, you can build your own bots with Visual studio. Microsoft bot framework provides three types of bot template to make a bot that is given below.

1. Echo Bot:- This template produces a bot that simply "echoes" back to the user anything the user says to the bot. This template allows for creating bots with a little more than "Hello World!", but not much more. It handles the very basics of sending messages to a bot and having the bot process the messages by repeating them back to the user.

2. Core Bot:- This is an advanced bot template, This template covers the core features of a Conversational-AI bot using LUIS.

3. Empty Bot:- You are a seasoned Bot Framework v4 developer. You've built bots before, and want the minimum skeleton of a bot to help you get started

Prerequisites

The following things are required to create a bot using Microsoft Bot Framework in C#.

1. .NET Core 3.1
2. Bot Framework Emulator.
3. Knowledge of ASP.Net Core and asynchronous programming in C#.

Microsoft Bot Framework provides the following tools for creating bots in C#.

1. Bot Framework SDK or BOT Builder SDK:- Enables the creation of a simple bot with discreet dialogue and perceptional that enables bots to see, hear, interpret, and interact in human ways.

2. Channel:- Works as a connecter between bots and UI interface. Both bots and users can interact with each other with different interfaces in many places.

3. Emulator:- Used to run, debug, and test the developed bots, the simulator is required for both local and remote bots.

Summary

A computer bot is a program which provides automated service like human interaction. Here we learned, what is Bot?, how it works and how to develope it. I hope you have enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks