What is Github Copilot and How to Use it

In this tutorial, you will learn about the revolutionary AI tool GitHub Copilot, including what it is and what you can do with it.

GitHub Copilot is an AI tool that helps coders write code faster and with fewer bugs. It assists in multiple ways, including code completion and suggestions, error fixing and debugging, code refactoring, optimization, and more.

GitHub Copilot is available for anyone to use with Free. We can easily use it by installing the extension in our IDE like Visual Studio Code or any other, signing in to GitHub, and then starting to code; Copilot will then provide suggestions as we type or ask questions via chat.

So let’s proceed with details about it:

1. What is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is an AI tool that assists coders in writing code quickly. Here are some key points about GitHub Copilot:

Copilot Uses OpenAI Codex Model

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered code assistant that based on OpenAI Codex Model. It uses OpenAI Codex to provide real-time code suggestions directly within integrated development environments (IDEs) such as Visual Studio Code, JetBrains, and others.

AI Coding Assistant

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered tool designed to assist developers with writing code and fixing bugs.

Real-time Suggestions

During writing code, it provides code suggestions and completions as we type, helps to write code faster and with less effort.

Contextual Understanding

While working on a project, GitHub copilot understands the context of our project code, including the language, project, and open files, to offer relevant suggestions.

AI Pair Programmer

As GitHub Copilot understands the context of our project, so tt acts as an AI pair programmer with us, offering assistance and guidance throughout the software development lifecycle.

2. Special Features of GitHub Copilot

Here are some special features of GitHub Copilot:

Code Completions

GitHub Copilot suggests code snippets and functions when start typing in IDs. We can accept suggestions by pressing Tab key.

Code Explanations

While writing code, we can also ask GitHub Copilot to explain parts of our code to write correct code..

Code Generation

We can generate code snippets based on natural language descriptions.

Debugging Assistance

AS GitHub Copilot understands our project code, we can take Copilot help fix errors in our code.

Documentation

We can also take help of Copilot document our code.

3. How to use GitHub Copilot

Here are some points that explain how to use GitHub Copilot:

Install the Extension

We need to install GitHub Copilot extension in our chosen IDEs like Visual Studio Code or any other to use GitHub Copilot.

Sign in to GitHub

We also need to sign in to our GitHub account within the IDE to use GitHub Copilot.

Start Coding

After GitHub Copilot extension install and signup, Copilot will start provide suggestions and completions to write code faster and bug free.

Use Chat

After GitHub Copilot setup, we can start suing Copilot Chat feature to ask questions about code, get explanations, or even ask it to generate code snippets.

Copilot Edits

We can also use GitHub Copilot Edits feature that have details of our questions answer to add new functionality or resolve bugs across our project.

Final Words

Here in this article, we explain what GitHub Copilot is, its features, and how to use it. Copilot is a revolutionary AI tool for coders. You can try it to boost your coding performance. Don’t forget to share your Copilot experience in the comments below.