Real World Experience: Github Copilot Edits

Will AI replace developers? Maybe. But for now, it augments developer productivity. For example, in our React Native codebase we were replacing occurrences of fontSize, fontWeight, and lineHeight with something from a pre-defined object, like textStyle.title, which contains all 3 attributes. It was repetitive, so why not ask GitHub Copilot Edits to do it for us? Here's how it works: you write the instructions in .github/copilot-instructions.md, then you "chat" with Copilot to do the thing. Simple. Could it be done without the use of AI? Of course! We could have spent some time writing a script. The catch: you'll have to capture your thoughts as code. (Okay, let's ignore the fact that I just described what a programmer is literally paid to do...

Feb 11, 2025 - 22:55
 0
Real World Experience: Github Copilot Edits

Will AI replace developers? Maybe. But for now, it augments developer productivity.

For example, in our React Native codebase we were replacing occurrences of fontSize, fontWeight, and lineHeight with something from a pre-defined object, like textStyle.title, which contains all 3 attributes.

a git diff showing Github Copilot Edits at work

It was repetitive, so why not ask GitHub Copilot Edits to do it for us?

Here's how it works: you write the instructions in .github/copilot-instructions.md, then you "chat" with Copilot to do the thing. Simple.

Could it be done without the use of AI? Of course! We could have spent some time writing a script. The catch: you'll have to capture your thoughts as code.
(Okay, let's ignore the fact that I just described what a programmer is literally paid to do...