this post was submitted on 11 May 2024
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Stuff like this is really useful when variable names are annoying, or when you have to repeat the same monotonous pattern over a large batch of code.
My favorite use of AI in code so far has been refactoring deprecated feature flags. "Replace enableXYZFeatureFlag with true and optimize the code". Bam, 1-2 hours' worth of crunch work solved in minutes.
If it takes 1+ hours of work to remove a feature flag branch in an area of code, I wouldn't trust the correctness of anything the AI writes and would be super skeptical about anything the humans had written.
It takes a long time because it hits a lot of files, not because it's logically complex. Also, that's why unit and integration tests exist.
Can you please describe how you do this? I thought Github Copilot can only make changes to the currently open tab? It's been a few months since I've used it, and I've only used the Visual Studio version, which I think isn't as good as the Visual Studio Code version. Has Copilot already gotten to the point where you can tell it to make changes to an entire codebase?
I do go file by file, but I just copy and paste the same query into each. It also gives me a chance to do a quick review before moving on. It's still a manual process but it's a HELL of a lot faster than manually refactoring.
(I can't give too many more details though since I use proprietary software that isn't public facing)