Live data from Hacker News

GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

github.com

181–190 of 446 posts

Re: GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

#181
post #76

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?"…

Now we just need to train it to make a dictionary for that info instead of forming a long url. But if it has to use a long url to use urljoin and/or string formatting.

Re: GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

#182
In my opinion, Copilot is going to become one of those "perceived authorities" that have just enough legitimacy to be blindly trusted by the inexperienced, but not enough to actually be useful to the experts.

This is like social media (or even the Internet as a whole) and say, our parents' generation. Countless times I receive links to Facebook posts or random articles that somebody thinks must be true, simply because The Oracle (i.e. their smartphone) showed it to them. For much of the older generation, smartphones are these all-knowing repositories of wisdom, and anything they come across while using them is likely to be true. This is why I think misinformation has spread so easily.

I imagine Copilot going down a similar path. The next generation of programmers who didn't grow up with knowing how to sift through API docs or SO answers for the right bit of code, or who's attention spans have been fizzled away, will love the idea of Copilot. Instant gratification in the firm of a tool that can seemingly do your work for you. This will be dire consequences for their ability to code and think for themselves.

Re: GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

#183
post #76

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?"…

Bit of a dodgy way to form query parameters though. Other than for a quick script.

It probably does suck! I’m not very experienced, and I was just whipping up something quick to test if my random MSFS2020 mod idea could work.

Re: GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

#184
So it looks like for neovim there is not yet the option to cycle through suggestions?

Looks like for VSCode the shortcut on Linux is Alt-], see: https://github.com/github/copilot-docs/blob/main/docs/visual...

But for neovim, it doesn't mention anything about it in the docs: https://github.com/github/copilot.vim/blob/release/doc/copil...

And, nothing happens when pressing Alt-].

Re: GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Open Source has licenses that must be followed. Copilot strips those off and ignores them.

What if I - a human - read your code, learn from it, and then use that knowledge to write my own code? Am I stripping your license off and ignoring it? Clearly it's not as simple as you imagine.

It depends how much you "learn from it" and then write your own code vs how much you copy/paste.

Copilot is pretty commonly just copy/pasting. You can get it to spit out exact copied code, including comments.

p.s. "it's not as simple as you imagine" is pretty dickish. Why include that?

Re: GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

#186
post #130

the fact that most of Co-Pilot's usefulness comes from repeating common snippets of code makes me think there has to be a much simpler way to reduce the boilerplate of "common tasks"

In my opinion, dependent type systems are that way. A dependent type is a type that depends on a value. What something is depends on something else; What something is is derived from something else – with computation. What dependent types are are calculations of type structure . Unbounded, this becomes intractable like all unbounded computational expressivity. So that’s what modern dependent type systems need to solv…

Formally rigorous methods have almost always lost out in the market against slop like JavaScript.

I think the reasons are completely pragmatic and boil down to two things.

The first is that rigorous systems usually take longer to build and meanwhile the slop ships first and gains mindshare.

The second is that rigorous systems are usually built by academics or specialists in some specific vertical and lack the easy installation, easy onboarding, and integration with other platforms that more pragmatic sloppy platforms tend to prioritize first. Those things get prioritized first because sloppy languages and systems tend to evolve from makeshift "shop jigs" used to get stuff done, not from research.

Re: GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

#187
post #77
post #63

Still no way to opt your code out of this. Disgusting.

This reaction is why we can’t have nice things :( after trying copilot I’m convinced that this kind of feature is going to bring the world to a next phase. Open source was part 1, this is part 2.

I understand a lot of people are ok with this and that's fine.

There's still no good reason I cannot opt my code out of it.

Re: GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

#188

I have a few questions about copilot. I haven’t gotten a chance to use it yet. Is it irrational that this makes me a little anxious about job security over the longterm? Idk why but this was my initial reaction when learning about this. Given the scenario where copilot and its likes becomes used in a widespread manner. Can it be argued that this might improve productivity but stifle innovation? Im pretty early in my…

I wouldn't worry about job security. Programming is a story of steady gradual automation and all that's done is increased its reach and multiplied the number of niches where there is demand for software.

Future developers might be more like architects guiding AIs and then occasionally jumping in to hand-hold or correct the result.

Re: GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

#189

I have a few questions about copilot. I haven’t gotten a chance to use it yet. Is it irrational that this makes me a little anxious about job security over the longterm? Idk why but this was my initial reaction when learning about this. Given the scenario where copilot and its likes becomes used in a widespread manner. Can it be argued that this might improve productivity but stifle innovation? Im pretty early in my…

It's reasonable to worry.

- Copilot is qualitatively different from the kinds of automation of programming we've seen before.

- It's barely version 1.0 of this kind of thing. Deep learning has been advancing incredibly for a decade and doesn't seem to be slowing down. Researchers also work on things like mathematical problem-solving, which would tie in to "real work" and not just the boilerplate.

- In past examples of AI going from subhuman to superhuman, e.g. chess and go, the practitioners did not expect to be overtaken just a few years after it had not even felt like real competition. You'd read quotes from them about the ineffability of human thought.

What to do personally, I don't know. Stay flexible?

Re: GitHub Copilot available for JetBrains and Neovim

#190
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The example i usually give [1] in javascript is say you have function (x,y) => x + y Orgs targeting code coverage write a test for 1,2 => 3 and get 100% coverage and then stop as there is no incentive to go further. They don't write tests for say (1,null) (null,null) ('x',1) (NaN, Infinity) and so on.. these additional tests will improve coverage of scenarios and code coverage will not move. I have seen projects wher…

I don't think there's Infinity in my language, what do you use it for except maths?

If you are using floating point numbers implemented in hardware, then infinity is absolutely a valid value and one that your code will encounter. This is true regardless of language, as long as the language requires or allows IEEE-754 semantics.

I am not aware of any language (outside of intentionally-minimalist esolangs) that doesn't support floating point numbers. In some languages (like JavaScript) that's the only kind of number you get.

Post reply on HN