Microsoft Copilot

What is Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is an AI assistant built to help developers write code faster. It uses OpenAI technology, specifically GPT-3, to provide suggestions as you type — completing lines of code, suggesting entire functions, and offering code snippets that fit the context of your work. The goal is to boost productivity by handling repetitive coding tasks, freeing you to focus on more complex or creative work.

Copilot learns from a large collection of code across many projects, so it improves over time at understanding different programming languages and common patterns.

Who created Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot comes from GitHub, a company owned by Microsoft. GitHub was founded in 2008 by Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath, and PJ Hyett, and is primarily known as a platform for managing software development projects and tracking code changes with Git. Microsoft officially acquired GitHub in July 2021.

Who is Microsoft Copilot for?

Copilot is aimed at anyone who writes code, including:

• Software developers
• Web developers
• Data scientists
• Machine learning engineers
• App developers
• System architects
• DevOps engineers
• Game developers
• QA engineers
• Technical writers

Getting started with Microsoft Copilot

1. Install the Copilot extension in your development environment, such as Visual Studio Code.
2. Activate Copilot, then open a code file and press “Tab” to accept a suggestion when one appears.
3. As you type, Copilot offers completions based on your code and its surrounding context.
4. Accept suggestions or ask Copilot for alternatives and provide feedback when a suggestion isn’t right.
5. Explore additional features, such as generating code snippets, accessing documentation, and finding relevant code examples.
6. Adjust the settings to match your coding style and preferences.
7. Experiment across different programming languages and coding situations to see where it helps most.