GitHub Copilot can write functional PHP code, tests, and JWT utilities in minutes, turning a typical coding task from an hour into a few minutes, though occasional tweaks are still needed.
GitHub Copilot proved it can produce real, production-grade PHP code with minimal human input. The author started with a simple Utilities class, let the AI complete a comment and generate a full method, then pushed it to more complex string-sanitization logic, showing how the tool can handle non-trivial requirements without defaulting to naive built-ins.
When testing, Copilot even generated unit test scaffolding, completing assertions and expected values after the author typed a single line. The AI correctly followed the author's concatenation style and adapted expectations when the author refined the allowed HTML tags, illustrating a surprisingly good grasp of context and coding conventions.
The most striking example is a full JWT class written almost entirely by the model. Within minutes, the author had a namespace-aware class supporting HS256 and RS256 signing, base64-url safe helpers, token generation, verification, and key extraction-all without external libraries. Minor tweaks were needed, but the bulk of the code was AI-generated, reducing what would have taken an hour to about seven minutes.
Overall, the piece shows that AI pair programming can dramatically speed up routine development, free engineers from boilerplate, and let them focus on higher-level design decisions. It also highlights the current limits: occasional errors, the need for human review, and the importance of precise prompts. For technical leaders, the takeaway is clear - integrating AI tools can boost team throughput, but they must be used with disciplined oversight.
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