• definitemaybe@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 day ago

    I actually got really clean, well commented code from Copilot earlier this week.

    I have no experience with JavaScript to speak of, but realized a Bookmarklet would be a perfect solution for reformatting a particular arcuate for printing. I already had a head replacement with CSS to do all the formatting, and I was using a RegEx to strip all script tags.

    Anyway, I asked Copilot to write the Bookmarklet to replace the header, with full contents explaining the training behind the code, and an explanation of how the script functions below. When I got an error, I asked if to fix the error and or identified that Bookmarklets work better as single lines, so it fixed it. Then I added the requirement about replacing scripts, and it did that too, but for commented and a clean one-line version.

    The one-live versions even up getting truncated, so I need to copy/paste from earlier (correct) endings, but otherwise it was an incredibly smooth experience.

    I spent longer writing the guide for how to use it than the time it took to vibe code it and test it. I was super impressed.

    (Granted, that’s a pretty easy coding task…)

    • Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 day ago

      no experience with JavaScript to speak of

      You claim no JavaScript experience, declare confident in the comments and include any examples.

      All you’ve really said here is you vibed coded a solution to a problem using one of the most common languages without knowing the language. And made claims you do not attempt to prove.

      • definitemaybe@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        3 hours ago

        I know enough to parse the code, especially with the comments. It was a logical algorithm, it worked, and it was just for reformatting a page to print cleanly, so there was basically no risk if it didn’t work. I code for work, I just don’t know JavaScript syntax or functions.

        Anyway, I was impressed it actually worked. I’m an AI skeptic, which is why I thought it was noteworthy to get well documented, clean, functional code from vibe coding—even in such a trivial context as swapping a head tag and removing script tags.

        • Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          5 hours ago

          a trivial context as swapping a head tag and removing script tags.

          Very curious what it actually generated here because that sounds really basic but as coders we tend to downplay complexity when describing things (why our documentation is often bad) so maybe it’s more than just some trivial dom manipulation.