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I get confused when I see stances like this, because it gives me the sense that maybe people just aren't using coding tools efficiently. 90% of my usage of Cop

I get confused when I see stances like this, because it gives me the sense that maybe people just aren't using coding tools efficiently. 90% of my usage of Copilot is just fancy autocomplete: I know exactly what I want, and as I'm typing out the line of code it finishes it off for me. Or, I have a rough idea of the syntax I need to use a specific package that I use once every few months, and it helps remind me what the syntax is, because once I see it I know it's right. This usage isn't really glamorous, but it does save me tiny bits of time in terms of literal typing, or a simple search I might need to do. Articles like this make me wonder if people who don't like coding tools are trying to copy and paste huge blocks of code; of course it's slower.

kibibu 1y ago
My experience is that the "fancy autocomplete" is a focus destroyer. I know what function I want to write, start writing it, and then bam! The screen fills with ghost text that may partly be what I want but probably not quit. Focus shifts from writing to code review. I wrest my attention back to the task at hand, type some more, and bam! New ghost text to distract me. Ever had the misfortune of having a conversation with a sentence-finisher? Feels like that. Perhaps I need to bind to a hot key instead of using the default always-on setting. --- I suspect people using the agentic approaches skip this entirely and therefore have a more pleasant experience overall.
- atq2119 1y ago
  It's fascinating how differently people's brains work. Autocomplete is a total focus destroyer for me when it comes to text, e.g. when writing a design document. When I'm editing code, it sometimes trips me up (hitting tab to indent but end up accepting a suggestion instead), but without destroying my focus. I believe your reported experience, but mine (and presumably many others') is different.
skydhash 1y ago
That usage is the most disruptive for me. With normal intellisense and a library you're familiar with, you can predict the completion and just type normally with minimal interruption. With no completion, I can just touch type and fix the errors after the short burst. But having whole lines pop up break that flow state. With unfamiliar syntax, I only needs a few minutes and a cheatsheet to get back in the groove. Then typing go back to that flow state. Typing code is always semi-unconscious. Just like you don't pay that much attention to every character when you're writing notes on paper. Editing code is where I focus on it, but I'm also reading docs, running tests,...

kibibu 1y ago

My experience is that the "fancy autocomplete" is a focus destroyer. I know what function I want to write, start writing it, and then bam! The screen fills with ghost text that may partly be what I want but probably not quit. Focus shifts from writing to code review. I wrest my attention back to the task at hand, type some more, and bam! New ghost text to distract me. Ever had the misfortune of having a conversation with a sentence-finisher? Feels like that. Perhaps I need to bind to a hot key instead of using the default always-on setting. --- I suspect people using the agentic approaches skip this entirely and therefore have a more pleasant experience overall.

atq2119 1y ago
It's fascinating how differently people's brains work. Autocomplete is a total focus destroyer for me when it comes to text, e.g. when writing a design document. When I'm editing code, it sometimes trips me up (hitting tab to indent but end up accepting a suggestion instead), but without destroying my focus. I believe your reported experience, but mine (and presumably many others') is different.

skydhash 1y ago

That usage is the most disruptive for me. With normal intellisense and a library you're familiar with, you can predict the completion and just type normally with minimal interruption. With no completion, I can just touch type and fix the errors after the short burst. But having whole lines pop up break that flow state. With unfamiliar syntax, I only needs a few minutes and a cheatsheet to get back in the groove. Then typing go back to that flow state. Typing code is always semi-unconscious. Just like you don't pay that much attention to every character when you're writing notes on paper. Editing code is where I focus on it, but I'm also reading docs, running tests,...