My impression of Github copilot

I have just got an invitation to try out Github copilot. I didn't expect much from it, but I thought why not try it out and see what it can provide.

After installing the extension, I started to write a test function, and boom! it perfectly auto-completed the function body! I mean this is just mind-blowing, how much code this AI is trained on to be that precise?

This exactly matches what they say about it on their official site:

Tests without the toil. Tests are the backbone of any robust software engineering project. Import a unit test package, and let GitHub Copilot suggest tests that match your implementation code.

I also tried writing a function name and seeing if it can generate something close to what I wanted. I only typed function is_video, pressed TAB and this was the result:

function is_video($path) : bool
{
    return str_contains($path, 'mp4') || str_contains($path, 'webm');
}

Sure you may want to tweak this function a bit, but it did an excellent job generating such code!

This is my first time using Github copilot and I can't wait to keep playing with it.

Some people have concerns about such tools replacing developers, but I don't think this is why these tools exist, they are there to help you save time and write better code.

I think the best way to describe Github copilot is what is written on the official site:

Trained on billions of lines of public code, GitHub Copilot puts the knowledge you need at your fingertips, saving you time and helping you stay focused.