A Practical, No-BS Review for Real Developers
Developers waste hours every week on boilerplate, syntax lookup, test scaffolding, and repetitive logic. AI
coding assistants promise to fix that, but most fall apart once you push them into real project work.
After two weeks using GitHub Copilot across Spring Boot, Python, and test automation projects, here’s the
practical truth—what Copilot is actually good at, what it gets wrong, and whether it’s worth the
subscription.
Copilot excels at repetitive coding tasks and inline code generation. It struggles with complex logic
and multi-file reasoning. If you want speed for everyday coding, get it. If you expect deep architectural
help—don’t.
The Problem Copilot Addresses
Developers lose productivity on: – Boilerplate (controllers, DTOs, mappers) – Remembering framework
syntax – Writing unit test skeletons – Searching for simple API examples – Translating SQL → JPA or JSON →
POJO – Understanding messy legacy code
Copilot automates these low-value tasks so devs can focus on design and problem-solving.
Marketing Claims vs Reality
The Good:
- Great at boilerplate
- Strong file-level context
- Helpful for tests and annotations
The Bad:
- Weak at business logic
- Multi-step reasoning is inconsistent
- Refactor suggestions aren’t always reliable
Setup (Simple and Fast)
Install the plugin in IntelliJ or VS Code, authenticate with GitHub, and start coding. That’s it.
Real Use Cases
1. Spring Boot CRUD Generation
Beginning a controller triggers Copilot to generate accurate CRUD endpoints.
Time saved: 5–10 minutes per resource.
2. JUnit 5 Test Skeletons
A prompt like “Generate JUnit 5 tests with Mockito” creates test stubs with mocks and annotations. Weak for advanced logic or edge-case coverage.
Time saved: 10–20 minutes per class.
3. SQL → JPA Entity Conversion
Paste a table schema and Copilot generates the matching JPA entity. Accurate for mappings, sometimes off on column types.
4. Explaining Legacy Code
Provides a decent summary of long, messy methods. Helpful for orientation, not reliable for subtle logic.
5. Refactoring Suggestions
Suggests extracting methods, adding guard clauses, or removing duplication. Good for simple cleanup.
Strengths
- Excellent for repetitive code
- Strong autocomplete
- Reduces context switching
- Helps with documentation and explanations
- Generates useful test scaffolds
Limitations
- Hallucinates business logic
- Poor multi-file reasoning
- May generate insecure or outdated code
- Tests are often simplistic
- Requires human review
- Not ideal for high-security or regulated environments
I’ll do a deeper dive comparing Copilot vs the alternatives such as Codeium, Tabnine, etc…
Ideal Users
Best for: Backend and full-stack devs, junior devs learning patterns, Senior devs wanting speed, and CRUD heavy or API first projects
Not ideal for: Finance/government, Strict IP environments, Domain-heavy business logic.
Conclusion
Copilot won’t design your system or handle complex logic, but it will eliminate 60–80% of boring, repetitive coding work. It speeds up controllers, DTOs, tests, mappings, documentation, and explanations. If you want a real, measurable productivity boost without changing your workflow, Copilot is worth using. If you expect it to build your application end-to-end, you’ll be disappointed.