Comment by brookst

2 years ago

I think you’re right, but that just means parent doesn’t understand copilot and is off tilting at windmills.

Copilot is amazing for reducing the tedium of typing obvious but lengthy code (and strings!). And it’s inline and passive; it’s not like you go edit -> insert -> copilot function and it dumps in 100 lines of code you have to debug. Which is what it sounds like parent is mistaking it for.

I’m reminded of 1995, when an elderly relative told me everything wrong with the internet based on TV news and not having ever actually seen the internet.

4 comments

brookst

Joker_vD 2 years ago

> Copilot is amazing for reducing the tedium of typing obvious but lengthy code (and strings!)

Which it occasionally mistypes. Then you're off to chase a small piece of error in a tub of boilerplate. Great stuff! For actual example, see [0]

[0] https://blog.ploeh.dk/2022/12/05/github-copilot-preliminary-...

brookst 2 years ago
You must be a much better programmer than I if those are examples you’d use copilot for. I was thinking more like:
start_value = get_*start_value(user_input)* self.log.d*ebug(‘got start_value {start_value}’)*
. . . where the would-be italics are what copilot would likely suggest for completion.
And if it’s wrong, you just. . . keep typing. It’s autocomplete, just like IDEs have for other things. I’m kind of astounded that people have such an emotional reaction to an optional, low-key, passive, easily-ignored tool that sometimes saves a bunch of typing. Yes, if you always accept the suggestions you’ll have problems. Just like literally every other coding assistance tool.
- Joker_vD 2 years ago
  
  That's not my blog, I just thought the example to be relevant.
  > I was thinking more like:
  That example is straight up from any of those "programming is not bound by typing speed" essays of yore.
  > people have such an emotional reaction to an optional, low-key, passive, easily-ignored tool that sometimes saves a bunch of typing.
  Maybe because it's not generally advertised by proponents as "an optional, low-key, passive, easily-ignored tool that sometimes saves a bunch of typing"? Just look at the rest of the thread, it's pronounced as a game-changer in productivity.
  
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