On Github CoPilot

Before I installed this IDE called “VSCode” around 2018, I was totally happy writing my python scripts using vim. I got into the habit of opening a file from the command line, making a change, and then pressing ESC, : + w to save the file. No auto-formatting, or syntax error highlighting, or fancy extensions to speed up the experience.

And it worked just fine.

Mainly because, as a young developer, the bottleneck of my output wasn’t speed of writing code, it was understanding the code well enough to make improvements.

But in 2018, a co-worker introduced me to VsCode. I resisted at first. It felt like another tool to learn that I didn’t need. Oh boy, was I completely wrong. In fact, I’m slightly embarrassed about the code I wrote pre-IDE. I apologize to those on my team that had to work with that code!

Since then, I’ve learned how to write better code.

And in the past 4 years, I’ve made slight adjustments to my development experience to improve efficiency and quality. I added VsCode extensions that helped with database interaction, git commands, linting, testing, etc.

But none of those tools can compare to the significant improvement in development experience I’ve had with using Github Co-pilot. It’s probably worth noting here, I have NO affiliation with GH Co-Pilot.

Objectively, the quality of the code I’ve been able to push has increased, the speed at which I can write code has gone up, and the overall experience has been a joy. I can only compare this feeling to when I first started using an IDE and felt silly for not using one sooner. It was silly for me to not use an IDE in 2018 to write code, and it’s inefficient to not use an AI assistant in 2022 to write code.

My only caveat I can think of at the moment to this is, “unless you’re learning to code”. If you’re still learning to code, please resist using an AI assistant until you have a solid grasp on what you’re doing. If you’re learning to code with AI assistance, that’s like learning to bowl with bumpers turned on. You’ll miss out on the learning experience you can only get from a gutter ball.