What are the Pros and Cons of Using GitHub Copilot?

It’s 3 am.

You were trying to solve this bug in your code.

But somehow, you were unable to.

Does it ring a bell?

I’m sure this is something that every developer may have experienced. Because to be honest, Coding can be daunting. I’m sure there will be times when you want to write an error-free code. But somehow, you were unable to.

But hey, don’t worry. Developers at GitHub were also facing the same problem. So, they decided to create something to help them in such a situation. Because, hey. Who doesn’t like a helping hand? Doesn’t matter if that hand is virtual!

And boom, GitHub Copilot was created. It is powered by GitHub, OpenAI, and Microsoft. Moreover, before releasing it in the market, it was trained in multiple languages.

So, if you use Visual Studio Code, you’ll be able to take help from it. It’s also available on Visual Studio, Vim, Neovim, the JetBrains suite of IDEs, and Azure Data Studio. Let’s see the pros of using GitHub Copilot. Well, it:

1. Is marvelous when it comes to creating code that has a certain pattern.
2. Has the ability to read minds. No don’t take this statement by its literal meaning. My point is at times it becomes way too good at writing the code you are about to write. But don’t forget your due diligence. Always check the code. Because at times, it is hit-and-miss.
3. Can auto-complete. It can also provide you with hints. Don’t want to complete the whole code? No, problem! GitHub has autocompletion.
4. Is capable of writing unit tests! Yeah, you read that right.
5. Can create dictionaries using lookup data. You just need to write a comment and a few lines of code and wait. GitHub will then do its magic.
6. Helps when it comes to writing comments in different languages. Sure. It won’t help you write code in Spanish. But you can write comments in Spanish and get assistance. However, if you have written code in English, then GitHub can also convert it into Spanish.
7. Can be useful when it comes to preparing for technical interviews. GitHub Copilot will get you started by giving you suggestions.

Let’s see the cons of using GitHub Copilot. The first downside of using GitHub Copilot is that developers can become way more reliant on it than they should be. This can turn bad, especially for beginners. Moreover, there were also times when developers found licensed codes in the suggestions.

This is wrong. GitHub says that it uses code responsibly. But developers don’t find the truth in this statement.

Due to this very reason, some developers are cautious when it comes to using GitHub Copilot. What if GitHub Copilot shared their codes with others? So, more experienced developers aren’t even using GitHub Copilot. Now, tell me do you use GitHub Copilot? Did you find it using licensed code?