GitHub Copilot is a cloud-based artificial intelligence tool that helps you write code faster and smarter. It is developed by GitHub and OpenAI, and works with Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Neovim, and JetBrains IDEs. In this blog post, you will learn what GitHub Copilot is, how to use it, and what are its benefits and limitations.
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What is GitHub Copilot?
GitHub Copilot is an AI pair programmer that suggests code snippets based on your natural language prompts or existing code. It can generate whole lines or entire functions in dozens of languages, such as Python, JavaScript, Ruby, Java, and more. GitHub Copilot draws context from the code you are working on, as well as from billions of lines of public code on GitHub. It helps you discover alternative ways to solve problems, write tests, and explore new APIs without having to search for answers on the internet.
How to use GitHub Copilot?
To use GitHub Copilot, you need to have an active GitHub Copilot subscription and install the GitHub Copilot extension in your preferred IDE. You can try GitHub Copilot for free with a one-time 30-day trial, or get a paid subscription for continued use. GitHub Copilot is also free for verified students, teachers, and maintainers of popular open source projects.
Once you have installed the extension, you can start typing your code or natural language prompts in your editor, and GitHub Copilot will automatically show you suggestions in a sidebar. You can accept a suggestion by pressing Tab or clicking on it, or cycle through different suggestions by pressing Option + ] (macOS) or Alt + ] (Windows/Linux). You can also see more suggestions by clicking on the “See more” button at the bottom of the sidebar.
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GitHub Copilot can also generate code for you from scratch. To do this, you need to write a descriptive comment in your editor, such as “// write a function that reverses a string”, and press Ctrl + Enter (macOS) or Ctrl + Alt + Enter (Windows/Linux). GitHub Copilot will then generate a code snippet that matches your comment.
What are the benefits and limitations of GitHub Copilot?
GitHub Copilot can help you save time and effort by generating code for you based on your natural language prompts or existing code. It can also help you learn new coding techniques, best practices, and APIs by showing you different ways to accomplish your tasks. GitHub Copilot can also improve your code quality by suggesting tests, error handling, and documentation.
However, GitHub Copilot is not perfect and cannot replace human programmers. It is still a tool that needs your guidance and supervision. You should always review the code that GitHub Copilot generates for you and make sure it is correct, secure, and compliant with your standards and requirements. You should also be aware of the legal and ethical implications of using code that is influenced by other people’s code on GitHub. For more information, see the GitHub Copilot FAQ page.
GitHub Copilot Documentation: Click Here
