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I was asked if Copilot is actually useful.

Our company provided us with a GitHub Copilot license, and upper management launched a survey asking if we're really using it.

No doubts here, it's awesome. (Or any of the free alternatives out thereβ€”not talking about Copilot specifically.)

Sure, the main reason people defend generation tools like Copilot is testing.

πŸ€“ <snobby-nerd-voice>- but you still need to tune the code - </snobby-nerd-voice> - and I'm glad I still have to review things!

personally, I've gone from 'let's create this sub-task in the board' to: 'I can get them done in 15 minutes'.


But let me add another:

It's fantastic for learning. I've learned more CSS in six months using Copilot than i was learning in ten years; because it provides those general patterns you're looking for.

Patterns... there are patterns in algorithms that I don't even consider: mappings, indexes, and the whole '+1 because the element is to the right of X' thing.


And now, to the key point of this post: something I feel not talked about enough.

That 'first stone' πŸͺ¨

If you're not sure where to start, the 'first stone' is super super super valuable.

Even if not a single line of the original suggested code remains, it gets your brain to reply: 'Wait, no, this should be like this and that.'

My brain shifts from a 'blank page' to fixing mode. And see,

We're better at editing than writing from scratch.

Top comments (2)

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garethrowell profile image
Gareth A Rowell

I've been using CoPilot for about a month coding in R. It seems about in par with Wikipedia for analytic and statistical solutions. Waiting patiently for some intelligence here.

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valvonvorn profile image
val von vorn

endless possibilities...