GitHub Copilot · Your AI pair programmer · GitHub

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GitHub Copilot · Your AI pair programmer · GitHub

Introduction

What is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant that transforms the developer experience. It provides contextualized assistance throughout the software development lifecycle, including:

  • Code completions and chat assistance in the IDE
  • Code explanations and answers to questions in GitHub
  • Help with debugging, deployment, and other tasks

Copilot enables developers to focus more on problem-solving and innovation by handling mundane and boilerplate coding tasks. Key benefits include:

  • Up to 75% higher job satisfaction for developers using Copilot
  • Up to 55% higher productivity in writing code, without sacrificing quality
  • Allows developers to ship great software faster

Main Features

  • Integrates with popular editors like VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, and Neovim
  • Natively built into GitHub.com
  • Provides code completions and chat assistance
  • Generates tests, documentation, and more
  • Offers explanations for code, pull requests, issues, etc.
  • Supports multiple programming languages

How to Use GitHub Copilot

  1. Install the Copilot extension in your preferred editor
  2. Enable Copilot in your project
  3. As you code, Copilot will offer inline suggestions
  4. Accept or reject suggestions as needed
  5. Use the chat interface to ask questions or get explanations
  6. Leverage Copilot throughout your development workflow

Pricing

  • Free tier: Limited to 2000 completions and 50 chat requests per month
  • Pro: $10/month for individuals, unlimited usage
  • Business: $19/user/month for teams
  • Enterprise: $39/user/month for organizations

Helpful Tips

  • Review Copilot suggestions carefully before accepting
  • Use Copilot alongside good testing and code review practices
  • Enable the code referencing filter to mitigate potential IP risks
  • Customize Copilot to align with your coding style and preferences

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Does Copilot copy/paste code? No, it generates suggestions using AI, not by copying existing code.

  2. What data is Copilot trained on? Publicly available code and text, including public GitHub repositories.

  3. Does Copilot replace human developers? No, it's meant to assist developers, not replace them. Human oversight is still required.

  4. Is Copilot secure? It has filters for insecure code patterns, but you should still follow security best practices.

  5. Does GitHub claim ownership of Copilot suggestions? No, GitHub does not claim ownership of any suggestions generated by Copilot.