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 Copilot’s behavior to fit your unique development needs
- Discover real-world use cases and advanced workflows for professional teams
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 Copilot’s 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 Copilot’s 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 Copilot’s 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
