GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

>>orph+(OP)
Copilot is crazy. The other day, I was writing a Python function that would call a Wikipedia API. I pulled from the internet an example of a GET request, and pasted it as a comment in my code.

  # sample call: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&format=json&list=geosearch&gscoord=37.7891838%7C-122.4033522&gsradius=10000&gslimit=100

Then I defined a variable,

  base_url = "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?"

Then, like magic, Copilot suggested all the remaining keys that would go in the query params. It even knew which params were to be kept as-is, and which ones would come from my previous code:

  action = "query"  # action=query
  format = "json"  # or xml
  lat = str(latitude.value)  # 37.7891838
  lon = str(longitude.value)  # -122.4033522
  gscoord = lat + "%7C" + lon
  ...
  api_path = base_url + "action=" + action + "&format=" + format + ... + "&gscoord=" + gscoord

As a guy who gets easily distracted while programming, Copilot saves me a lot of time and keeps me engaged with my work. I can only imagine what it'll look like 10 years from now.

>>pugets+Nr
That's impressive. Discoverability and the varying quality of documentation is a big headache for new programmers or people engaging with a an unfamiliar framework/API/library. I really like the comments pointing out alternatives (json or xml) and the static lat-long values.

One reason I've championed the development of visual programming (flow-based, node diagrams, etc) is that while you don't want to compress a big complex program down into a single layer and become unreadable in the process, graphical methods are a great way for people to see what options they have available and just point at things they want to try out.

Instead of struggling with syntax at the same time as trying to find out what they can do with a new API, they can engage in trial-and-error to find out the capabilities and what makes it worth using, then build up their competency once they are clear about their objectives.

I'm looking forward to trying this now that it's available for my favorite IDE, but I'll probably want to set up a hotkey to switch it on and off as I need it. Once I get fully comfortable with something I often find code completion tools get in the way of my flow.

zlacker