GitHub Copilot Step by Step: Navigating AI-driven software development

Description

Microsoft MVP and MCT Community Lead Dr. Gomathi S. delivers the ultimate hands-on guide to mastering AI-powered coding with GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot Step by Step: Navigating AI-driven software development is a practical, hands-on guide for developers seeking to master AI-powered coding with GitHub Copilot. Blending clear reference material with step-by-step tutorials, this book makes advanced AI coding concepts accessible to developers and technology enthusiasts at all levels. You will learn to set up Copilot, generate and refine code, automate workflows, and integrate AI into their development process, gaining the essential skills to boost productivity, streamline tasks, and innovate in the rapidly evolving world of software engineering.

By reading this book, you will:

• Understand the foundational concepts and architecture of GitHub Copilot
• Set up and configure Copilot in popular development environments
• Generate, review, and refine code suggestions for multiple programming languages
• Accelerate development tasks from prototyping to debugging with AI assistance
• Automate repetitive coding tasks and streamline workflows
• Apply best practices for prompt engineering and troubleshooting
• Integrate Copilot into team projects and collaborative coding scenarios
• Explore ethical considerations and limitations of AI-powered coding assistants
• Customize Copilots behavior to fit your unique development needs
• Discover real-world use cases and advanced workflows for professional teams

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Sample Content

Table of Contents

Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . xxiii

Chapter 1: Introduction to GitHub Copilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Practice files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . 1

Understand GitHub Copilot and its core functionality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Explore the AI technology behind GitHub Copilot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Learn how GitHub Copilot handles privacy and applies responsible AI. . . . . . . . 23

Recognize the limitations and ethical considerations of GitHub Copilot. . . . . . . 25

Skills review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Practice tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Chapter 2: Setting up GitHub Copilot for your development workflow. . . . .  . 33

Practice files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . 33

Set up your GitHub account and select a Copilot plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Install Copilot in your development environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Configure permissions and personal settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Test Copilot with sample prompts across languages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Troubleshoot installation issues and common errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Apply best practices for using Copilot effectively. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Explore Copilots functionality in online and offline modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Skills review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Practice tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Chapter 3: Writing effective prompts for AI-powered coding. . . . . . . . .  . 67

Practice files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . 67

Understand what makes a prompt for AI code generation effective. . . . . . . . . . . 68

Use comment-based, function signature, and docstring prompts. . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Refine or rewrite prompts to improve suggestion quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Apply prompt templates for algorithms, tests, refactoring, and more. . . . . . . . . 77

Customize prompts for specific languages, libraries, and frameworks. . . . . . . . . 81

Identify and fix vague and inefficient prompts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Build an iterative workflow to continuously improve prompt results. . . . . . . . . . 88

Skills review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Practice tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Chapter 4: Enhancing code efficiency with AI assistance. . . . . . . . .  . 95

Practice files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . 95

Apply advanced prompting to guide GitHub Copilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Automate repetitive tasks using AI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Refactor inefficient or legacy code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Implement clean coding practices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Improve code readability and structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Evaluate AI suggestions for quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Skills review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Practice tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Chapter 5: Debugging and troubleshooting code with Copilot. . . . . . . . 139

Practice Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Identify common code issues with GitHub Copilot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Use Copilot to suggest and apply bug fixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Improve error handling by using AI-assisted recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Optimize code performance through Copilot-driven insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Skills review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Practice tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Chapter 6: Writing and automating tests with GitHub Copilot. . . . . . . . . . 163

Practice files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Generate unit tests and integration tests using GitHub Copilot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Automate test case creation to reduce repetitive coding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Work with popular testing frameworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Write clear and structured test prompts for Copilot to follow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Apply best practices to improve the reliability of AI-generated tests. . . . . . . . . 182

Skills review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Practice tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Chapter 7: Using GitHub Copilot for code reviews and collaboration. . . . . . .  191

Practice files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  191

Explore Copilots help with code reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Generate refactoring suggestions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Create clear inline documentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Use Copilot for alternative implementations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Collaborate with teammates using AI-enhanced feedback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Skills review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Practice tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Chapter 8: Using AI-powered development workflows in real-world scenarios. . . . . 223

Practice files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Discover real-world Copilot use cases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Explore AI workflows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Understand the role of AI across industries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Apply practical examples of AI in your projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Reflect on Copilots impact on teams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Skills review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Practice tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Chapter 9: Avoiding common pitfalls with GitHub Copilot. . . . . . . . . . . 269

Practice files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Spot and fix common Copilot mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Understand why Copilot mistakes happen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Fix and refine AI-generated code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Guide Copilot effectively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Practice real-world examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Skills review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Practice tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Chapter 10: Exploring the future of AI in software development. . . . . . 303

Practice files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Explore upcoming AI trends in coding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Understand the evolution of GitHub Copilot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Discover new developer roles in the AI era. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Skills review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Practice tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . 325

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