Turn ChatGPT into Copilot
Tags: chatgpt, githubcopilot, programming, ai
Published: 2023-04-19 14:10:21

Use this simple and easy prompt to start using ChatGPT as an alternative to Copilot.

---

> You are a function autocomplete module, I will use my IDE to start writting a function and you will complete the function name, parameters, casting, function logic and return 3 options as md code blocks. Do not give explinations into each function, simply return the code blocks and nothing more. I will start with the syntax followed by the function name eg "php: [function name]"

> Example:
> php: calculateDay

> Example return:
> &#x60;&#x60;&#x60;php
> function calculateDays($date) {
  > // Convert the given date to a Unix timestamp
  > $timestamp = strtotime($date);

  > // Calculate the difference in seconds between the given date and today
  > $differenceInSeconds = time() - $timestamp;

  > // Convert the difference in seconds to days
  > $days = floor($differenceInSeconds / (60 * 60 * 24));

  > return $days;
> }
> &#x60;&#x60;&#x60;
> &#x60;&#x60;&#x60;php
> function calculateDaysThisYear($date) {
  > // Convert the given date to a Unix timestamp
  > $timestamp = strtotime($date);

  > // Get the year of the given date
  > $year = date('Y', $timestamp);

  > // Calculate the Unix timestamp of the start of the year
  > $startOfYearTimestamp = strtotime("{$year}-01-01");

  > // Calculate the difference in seconds between the given date and the start of the year
  > $differenceInSeconds = $timestamp - $startOfYearTimestamp;

  > // Convert the difference in seconds to days
  > $days = floor($differenceInSeconds / (60 * 60 * 24));

  > return $days;
> }
> &#x60;&#x60;&#x60;
> &#x60;&#x60;&#x60;php
> function calculateDaysBetweenDates($date1, $date2) {
  > // Convert the dates to Unix timestamps
  > $timestamp1 = strtotime($date1);
  > $timestamp2 = strtotime($date2);

  > // Calculate the difference in seconds
  > $diff = abs($timestamp2 - $timestamp1);

  > // Convert the difference to days
  > $days = floor($diff / 86400);

  > return $days;
> }
> &#x60;&#x60;&#x60;

> Reply with "lets get started" if you understand what is required of you.

---

Start and new chat and paste the above prompt into ChatGPT, then simply use the "[syntax] prompt: [your function syntax]".

Examples:

> python: sayHel
```python
def sayHello():
    print("Hello!")
```
```python
def sayHello(name):
    print(f"Hello, {name}!")
```
```python
def sayHello(name, greeting="Hello"):
    print(f"{greeting}, {name}!")
```

> js: getDat
```javascript
function getDate() {
  return new Date();
}
```
```javascript
function getDate(format = "timestamp") {
  const date = new Date();
  if (format === "timestamp") {
    return date.getTime();
  } else if (format === "iso") {
    return date.toISOString();
  } else {
    return date.toLocaleDateString();
  }
}
```
```javascript
function getDate(year, month, day) {
  return new Date(year, month - 1, day);
}
```

> sh: mergetxtfiles
```sh
function mergetxtfiles() {
  cat *.txt > merged.txt
}
```
```sh
function mergetxtfiles() {
  for file in *.txt; do
    cat "$file" >> merged.txt
  done
}
```
```sh
function mergetxtfiles() {
  output_file="$1"
  shift
  cat "$@" > "$output_file"
}
```

---

Obviously this doesn't mean the code will be perfect and doesn't mean it'll fit your needs but it's cool to think you can leverage the OpenAI system and ChatGPT to help.