Comment by 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-...

3 comments

Joker_vD

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.
- brookst 2 years ago
  
  Different experiences, I guess. I’m a low end, part-time hobbyist programmer, and for me at least 75% of my time is spent essentially typing in obvious, easily-checked code. It has been a game changer for me. It’s also led me to write better comments, because rather than being a pure tax, they improve the generated code.
  I can see how someone who’s always working on sophisticated, mentally challenging code would get less benefit and would see more frequent errors.