Ask HN: How often do you use GitHub Copilot at work? If not, why not?

5 points by kingkhalid ↗ HN

5 comments

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I copy past code blocks into chatgpt web interface but I remove any company specific stuff first. Like I'll even change variable names to "foo" vs. using the very MyCompanyNameVar in the example code.
And that's faster than just typing the code yourself in the first place?
only if I'm stuck on something that I know gpt can handle. I use it like a Sous-chef.
I don't use it, I refuse to. To me, the most important thing is to write code I understand in a way that will be understood by other humans. Copilot is here to make me produce code faster, that's a different goal.

I do spend a lot of time reading about the functions I call (to make sure I understand what they are meant to do and how to use them) and then, once my code works, to make it more readable. I believe it is a skill that requires practice. Copilot removes that, and therefore prevents me from getting better at what I believe is important.

It's an integral part of my workflow now. I love it. My common use cases are

- generating doc comments that are 99% correct

- completing boilerplate like error handling (f- you golang)

- write a "quick start" skeleton for unknown libraries and frameworks