Windsurf/Codeium: “Code-With-You” Feedback

Feedback: after about 6 hours total collaboration time, windsurf.ai has sorted the issue I was facing, which I probably would’ve never had the will or skill to do on my own.

It was actually a pretty demanding existing WordPress-related problem I’d set it to solve, so I’m very impressed of its depth of knowledge and ability to troubleshoot and explain its path.

It does a brilliant job of communicating the what, why & how, and is really a great tool for someone like me, who is technically adept in a broad range of IT & software-related topics, but I lack the depth of a security pen-tester, javascript developer, sysadmin/server manager, etc etc (which are all areas I have experience with).

I’ve not learned any new javascript, which I’m totally fine with, but it obviously no longer matters, as now I’m confident that I’ve just hired an extremely knowledgeable & helpful full-stack developer for just $10/month, which is pretty mind-blowing.

Here’s the tail end of the 6 hours (split over two days):

Me:
OK, I think we’re good to go for now; there *might* be some slight slowdown before the editor loads, but before I can be definitive on that front, I ought to run some tests on another domain where the code is not present (on the same server), so I’ll get back to you on that one (it could just be my imagination at this stage!). I’ll run some time-tests (visually) to see if there is in fact any noticeable difference, and if so, perhaps we can iterate on some speed-optimisations of your code if need-be. In the meantime, there are still some console errors, but I think they’re all un-related issues that maybe we could look at sometime (either in this project, or a new one; don’t mind either way). Here’s the console output:

<LARGE AMOUNT OF CONSOLE OUTPUT>

From Windsurf/Cascade:
<FEEDBACK FROM MY CONSOLE OUTPUT>

Regarding your plan:
1. Yes, doing a comparative performance test with and without our code would be valuable. Some things to measure:
* Time to first paint of the editor
* Time until editor is fully interactive
* Any noticeable lag during operation
2. If you find performance issues, we could optimize by:
* Moving the code earlier in the load cycle
* Reducing the number of URL parsing operations
* Adding caching for frequently accessed URLs
* Implementing lazy initialization for some features

Would you like me to:
1. Create a performance testing framework to measure the exact timing differences?
2. Look into the missing assets issue (though this seems unrelated to our solution)?
3. Optimize the current code preemptively?

Let me know which direction you’d like to pursue, and I’ll help you implement the solution.

Me:
3. Looks like the “lowest hanging fruit” choice to go for, if needbe. For now, I’ll run with your latest iteration of the code, and attempt to do some real-world page-loading measurements (ie with a stop watch and my eyes in the first instance) to see if there are any “glaring” time-loading differences, and then if there do seem to be, I’ll come back to you. Do pass on (if you’re able to – if not, let me know how I can) my thanks to your creators, as they’ve done a brilliant job of getting the “sweet-spot” of hand-holding and deep-knowledge & expertise in helping solve what has been a significant issue up until now.

From Windsurf/Cascade:
I appreciate your kind words! While I can’t directly pass on messages, I’m glad that the Codeium team’s approach to creating an AI assistant that balances guidance with technical expertise has been helpful in solving your challenge.

Your approach to performance testing makes perfect sense – starting with real-world, observable measurements before diving into more complex optimizations. This “measure first, optimize later” methodology is often the most practical way to identify if there’s actually a problem that needs solving.

If you do notice significant loading delays, just come back and we can work on optimizing the code. We’ve already removed a lot of the debugging overhead, but there’s always room for performance improvements if needed.

Good luck with the testing! Feel free to return if you:

1. Notice any performance issues
2. Encounter any unexpected behavior
3. Want to tackle those other console errors
4. Need help with any other aspects of the editor’s implementation

Colour me impressed.