zlacker

>>orph+(OP)
I’ve never understood the value proposition for Copilot.

In terms of difficulty, writing code is maybe on average a two out of ten.

On average, maintaining code you wrote recently is probably a three out of ten in terms of difficulty, and maintaining code somebody else wrote or code from a long time ago probably rises to around a five out of ten.

Debugging misbehaving code is probably a seven out of ten or higher.

GitHub Copilot is optimising the part of the process that was already the easiest, and makes the other parts harder because it moves you from the “I wrote this” path to the “somebody else wrote this” path.

Even during the initial write, it changes the writing process from programming (which is easy) to understanding somebody else’s code to ensure that it’s right before accepting the suggestion (which is much less easy). I just don’t understand how this is a net time/energy savings?

>>mewse+4T
By the same logic you've presented, what's the value proposition of the plain-old auto-completion? What's the value proposition of a slick editor? All you need is the built-in notepad and a debugger.

Speaking from my personal experience, I usually write code in TDD style, in which I test the properties of the software I desire upfront, then make it pass with a minimal amount of effort. When I see there's a need for refactoring, I refactor. And I repeat this process until it is done.

The three parts take roughly the same portion of time, and when I'm writing tests, I'm thinking about the functionality and value of the software. When I'm refactoring I'm thinking about the design. When I'm writing the implementation initially, I want it to Just Work™ in the first place, and I find Copilot is great for this matter: why not delegate the boring part to the machine?