Ok I jumped on copilot when it first came out so I have been using it for a long time.
Since I have been using it so long, I have a really good intuition of what it is “thinking” in every scenario and a pretty good idea of what it can do for me. So that helps me get more use out of it.
So for example one of the projects I’m doing now is a flutter project - my first one. So I don’t remember all the widgets. But I just write a comment:
// this widget does XYZ
And it will write something that is in the right direction.
The other thing it knows super well is like rote code, and for context, it reads the whole file. So like Dart, for example is awful at json. So you have to write “toMap” for each freaking class where you do key values to generate a map which can be turned into json. Same goes for fromMap. So annoying.
But with copilot? You just write “toMap” and it reads all your properties and suggests a near perfect implementation. So much time saved!
I don't think you need an LLM just to parse class properties and turn them into a map. Not that familiar with Dart, but that's the kind of thing IDEs have been able to do for a while now just by parsing syntax the old-fashioned way.
The thing is, when you dig into the claims many people make when they say that they get a 10x productivity boost using "AI" its usually some basic tasks that either generates boilerplate code or performs a fancy autocomplete and while those are great, in no way it supports their original claim.
I think people just want to be part of the hype and use the cool new technology whenever possible. We've seen this over and over again: Machine Learning, Blockchains, Cryptos, "Big Data", "Micro Services", "Kubernetes", etc.
I just don't think the current design of "AI" will take us there..
> they get a 10x productivity boost using "AI" its usually some basic tasks that either generates boilerplate code or performs a fancy autocomplete and while those are great
And that are just a tiny upgrade over what IDEs can do. When I used Android Studio, the code basically write itself due to the boilerplate surrounding your business logic. And once I got a basic structure down, I feel like I only write 5 to 10 characters each line (less for data types). And the upgrade is both positive and negative at the same time, it boils down to luck to actually get good suggestions.
Since I have been using it so long, I have a really good intuition of what it is “thinking” in every scenario and a pretty good idea of what it can do for me. So that helps me get more use out of it.
So for example one of the projects I’m doing now is a flutter project - my first one. So I don’t remember all the widgets. But I just write a comment:
// this widget does XYZ
And it will write something that is in the right direction.
The other thing it knows super well is like rote code, and for context, it reads the whole file. So like Dart, for example is awful at json. So you have to write “toMap” for each freaking class where you do key values to generate a map which can be turned into json. Same goes for fromMap. So annoying.
But with copilot? You just write “toMap” and it reads all your properties and suggests a near perfect implementation. So much time saved!