Ride the AI wave – don’t resist it #
You don’t want to be one of those old guys that programs his computer with punch-cards do you? You know… the guy who is grouchy and they only keep around because no one else knows how to program that old system? Quit resisting using AI, and get with the program! Stay relevant! Here, let me help you get started for FREE!
Benefits of Coding with a Co-Pilot #
1. Increased Productivity #
A co-pilot can help you write code faster by suggesting entire lines or blocks of code based on context, reducing the time spent on repetitive tasks.
2. Learning and Exploration #
As a co-pilot provides suggestions, it can help developers learn new programming languages, libraries, and best practices by showing how experienced developers write code.
3. Code Quality Improvement #
Co-pilots often follow best practices and can suggest clean, efficient code that adheres to industry standards, helping improve the overall quality of your software.
4. Reduced Cognitive Load #
By handling routine coding tasks, a co-pilot allows developers to focus more on solving complex problems rather than getting bogged down by syntax or boilerplate code.
5. Faster Onboarding for New Developers #
New team members can benefit from a co-pilot’s suggestions, helping them understand the project structure and coding conventions more quickly.
6. Error Prevention #
A co-pilot can highlight potential errors or suggest fixes before they become issues, reducing the number of bugs in your codebase.
7. Support for Multiple Languages and Frameworks #
Many co-pilots support a wide range of programming languages and frameworks, making them a versatile tool for developers working on diverse projects.
8. Collaboration Enhancement #
A co-pilot can help maintain consistency across codebases, especially when multiple developers are working on the same project.
How I use a Co-Pilot to code #
Being able to chat with your Codebase, Folders, Files, Functions, etc. speeds me up so much. I still believe it is super important to be able to code without a co-pilot, and to understand structurally how all your code fits together, what engineering decisions make the most architectural sense, what best practices are for your platform, etc. But at the end of the day, a co-pilot can save you a ton of time when you have a quick question or want to put a second set of eyes on things.
Some of the wonderful things you can do, are to ask questions of an entire codebase. This is very useful to new codebases you’re exposed to, projects you want to fork or modify, or to find where in the code to make changes.
Codebase Chat Example (from this site!): #
Maybe you have a question about a specific file or folder? Getting overviews there is very easy as well:
File Chat Example: #
When you’re ready to do a little vibe coding yourself, it is also super easy to get a helping hand:
Code Creation and Modification: #
And then once you’ve written your function, you can do more with it…
How to set up your own Co-Pilot #
Surprisingly, I have not found a lot of great guides on the internet to get you setup start to finish with your own co-pilot. So I’ve created a git repo that you can download and use to get yourself setup, start to finish.
One thing to note is that this is a fairly basic setup, and is designed to work on just about any PC out there. If you have, or want to, make the investment to build a more powerful local server or you have a killer GPU already, let me know and I would be happy to provide information on how to improve this setup. Who knows, maybe another blog entry later we’ll cover this topic.
For now here is the git repo, which contains the full setup instructions: