Employing GitHub Copilot as a Productivity Navigator For Salesforce Developers
In recent years, there has been a growing demand for AI enablement in the software development space. Though AI has not yet reached the point where it can completely function without human input, it has made the overall turnaround time much faster than it was earlier.
The global artificial intelligence (AI) market is expected to reach 2,575.16 billion USD by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% during the forecast period 2023 to 2032[i].
At Grazitti, we recognized the importance of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools into our Salesforce development operations to boost productivity and streamline processes.
After extensive research and testing, we chose GitHub Copilot – an AI-powered code completion tool developed by GitHub and OpenAI.
In this blog post, we delve into how GitHub Copilot has empowered our Salesforce developers, taking our development operations to new heights.
GitHub Copilot: Our AI-Powered Coding Companion
GitHub Copilot, commonly referred to as Copilot, is an AI tool that helps developers write code faster and more accurately. It is a cloud-based tool that uses a large language model (LLM) called GPT-3 to generate code suggestions.
Designed to integrate seamlessly with popular code editors, Copilot provides real-time code suggestions, completions, and even whole blocks of code based on the developer’s input and context.
Copilot easily fits as your coding assistant as it is capable of analyzing vast amounts of code from a wide range of programming languages and tasks.
The Salesforce developers at Grazitti tested Copilot for their tasks to make a final decision about the tool.
Here are a few reasons, we chose Copilot as our AI partner in coding:
- It was able to generate accurate and relevant code snippets, which saved the team time and effort.
- It helped the team to improve the quality of their code by catching potential errors and suggesting better coding practices.
- It helped the team to stay focused on the big picture by automating the repetitive tasks of code generation.
Implementing and Integrating Copilot
The implementation and integration of GitHub Copilot into the Salesforce development process proved to be a seamless and efficient endeavor. The team readily embraced the tool, benefiting from its compatibility with widely used code editors and integrated development environments (IDEs), which facilitated a smooth transition.
To assess Copilot’s capabilities, we concentrated on generating code snippets for Lightning Web Components (LWC) and Apex for our Email to Case Advance (Product) to accomplish diverse functionalities.
And the AI-powered coding companion proved to be a valuable asset worth the investment, enabling our developers to generate code snippets swiftly and accurately for diverse functionalities.
The Impact of Copilot on Our Salesforce Development Operations
Here are some insights on how Copilot helped us accelerate development and drive innovation in crucial Salesforce development aspects.
Efficiency and Productivity: The integration of Copilot resulted in a remarkable 24% increase in efficiency and a boost in overall productivity. By automating repetitive coding tasks and generating code snippets, developers could redirect their efforts toward more critical aspects of the development process.
Code Quality and Faster Delivery: With Copilot’s assistance, the development team witnessed a notable improvement in code quality, leading to faster delivery times. The tool’s ability to generate accurate and reliable code snippets contributed to reduced errors and smoother development cycles.
Code Reusability and Consistency: Copilot’s capacity to generate reusable code snippets promoted code consistency across projects and reduced redundancy. Developers could easily access and incorporate pre-existing code, streamlining the development process and enhancing collaboration.
Opportunities to Learn: GitHub Copilot served as a valuable learning resource for team members. As the tool generated code suggestions and alternatives, developers gained insights into best practices and innovative coding techniques, further improving their skills.
Seamless Software Development: The successful implementation of Copilot showcased the immense potential of AI in streamlining software development processes. It demonstrated how AI-powered tools can significantly augment developers’ capabilities and optimize the development workflow.
The Final Take
While it’s not uncommon for companies in the tech industry to embrace and implement cutting-edge technologies like AI to improve their operations and deliver more accurate results, team Grazitti has been leveraging it since its initial days.
We have helped our clients implement AI in several other departments including marketing automation, personalizing customer experiences, supply chain management, automated testing, and so on.
The integration of Copilot as a coding companion for our Salesforce development operations has been a transformative experience. The tool’s ability to generate accurate and relevant code snippets saved time and effort and improved our code’s overall quality. As AI technology advances, we are excited about the boundless possibilities it holds for further optimizing and enhancing Salesforce development operations.
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