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by dpedu
1309 days ago
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Like many folks here, I can write and read a variety of different programming languages. Some I've been using for a long time and know very well and some I seldom use but retain the basics. I don't use Copilot when writing languages I am very comfortable with because I'd rather write code that I completely understand. Or at least, understand to the best of my ability. I find it easier to consider edge cases and side effects when writing original code. Or at least, compared to reading someone else's that was ripped from a project you don't even know the goals of. I don't buy that Copilot improves productivity for this reason as well. I also avoid using Copilot when writing in languages I am unfamiliar with because I feel like it's robbing me of a learning experience. Or robbing me of repetition that improves my memory of how to do various things in the language. I don't know. Copilot is certainly impressive but there are too many questions - what I've mentioned and the legal ones in the OP. But perhaps that is a good thing? It is a new angle on copyright that we're going to have to answer one way or another. In programming and other fields. |
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This might not be that big a percentage of my actual work, but in terms of motivation it enables me to work using TDD without the friction of writing boilerplate, which in turn makes programming much more fun.
Also, and this is a big one, you can directly ask questions and it replies. I find that fascinating.
This morning I asked him “why didn’t you test for [specific thing]?” And it replied “because I don’t know how to properly mock [name of a library I was using]”.
Yesterday, while bored in a meeting, I asked copilot whether a coworker’s proposal for an OKR was good and it replied “it’s ok, but keep in mind that it’s a lagging metric”. It’s scary.