What is GitHub Copilot? | Artificial Intelligence Supported Code Writing

GitHub has been popular among software developers for many years due to various reasons. In recent years, GitHub Copilot has become quite popular among software developers as well. 

Trained using publicly available repositories, the main goal of GitHub Copilot is to enable developers to work faster and more easily. 

In this article, we will tell you everything you need to know about GitHub Copilot, including how to use it and its advantages 🤖.

What is GitHub?

To fully understand what GitHub Copilot is, we first need to look at GitHub. GitHub is one of the world's largest developer communities, and is a web-based cloud storage service for software development projects using the Git version control system. GitHub is designed to enable large teams to work together and independently on code. 
 

What is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is an artificial intelligence tool that provides code suggestions based on the content and comments of the edited file. GitHub Copilot assists in tasks such as automatic instruction completion, creating functions, and converting docstrings into source code. Copilot enables software developers to write code more easily and quickly.

Copilot was developed in collaboration between GitHub and OpenAI. It is powered by a new AI system called Codex, which uses the GPT-3 model. GPT-3 stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer third generation, a language model that can generate sequences of text from simple prompts.

When software developers start writing code, GitHub Copilot offers various suggestions to the user on how this code might look correctly. It produces not just a single solution but multiple solutions. This is how GitHub Copilot works. 

What Are the Advantages of GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered code editor, offers developers the following advantages:

1. Automatically fills in code: GitHub Copilot allows you to quickly create repetitive code patterns. It completes tasks by providing just a few examples.
2. Offers alternatives: Copilot generates alternative lines of code and lists. 
3. Increases coding speed: Developers often spend hours searching resources online when looking for a solution to a problem. GitHub Copilot uses its AI to scan resources and provide suggestions, thus reducing time wasted.
4. Enhances quality: GitHub Copilot improves coding quality by providing developers with the best coding suggestions. It helps reduce errors. 
5. Reduces workload: Copilot offers suggestions for repetitive codes and routine operations to reduce developers' workload. 
6. Supports various programming languages: Copilot supports most programming languages and works most efficiently with Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Ruby, and Go. 
7. Can be added to development environments: GitHub Copilot is added as an extension to development environments like Visual Studio, VS Code, Neovim, and JetBrains IDEs.

How Does GitHub Copilot Work?

GitHub Copilot is an artificial intelligence (AI) based software development tool. It works by using deep learning algorithms. Through these algorithms, GitHub Copilot gains knowledge about programming languages, analyzes all open-source codes, collects data, and offers better code suggestions. 

Since its algorithm is continuously developed, GitHub Copilot's suggestions improve every day. To achieve all this, GitHub Copilot uses OpenAI Codex. 

Its working principle is quite simple. For example, if a developer is writing code using the JavaScript programming language, GitHub Copilot tries to understand the concepts in this code. Then, it offers suggestions to the developer. Thus, the development process becomes more efficient and simple.
 

How to Use GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is a tool accessed using a GitHub account. Therefore, to use GitHub Copilot, you need to create a GitHub account. 

More content: How to use GitHub in 7 steps?

1- To add GitHub Copilot through your GitHub account, go to the "settings" section.

2- From the menu on the left, select GitHub Copilot and grant permission.

How to Install GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is used as an extension for Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Neovim, and JetBrains. Additionally, using Copilot is quite easy. Step by step on how to use GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code:

1. If you want to use GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio must be installed. Open Visual Studio Code and click on create a project.
2. In Visual Studio Code, click on the "Extensions" option from the menu on the left. Search for the "GitHub Copilot" extension and install it.
3. You will see that GitHub Copilot is enabled at the bottom of the application.
4. GitHub Copilot works automatically in files. Select the place where you want to use a code block and press "Ctrl+Shift+P" to choose "GitHub Copilot: Prompt". GitHub Copilot will provide a suggestion list for the area you selected.

GitHub Copilot uses an AI model to provide code suggestions. In some cases, the suggestions may be incorrect or inappropriate. Therefore, carefully review the suggestions and make appropriate changes.

Is GitHub Copilot Paid?

Yes, GitHub Copilot is paid. You can try GitHub Copilot for free for 60 days. When your trial period ends, you can decide whether to continue using Copilot. 

If you decide to use it, there is a monthly and annual subscription fee. The fee is $10 per month or $100 per year. However, students and teachers can use GitHub Copilot for free. You need to verify your identity for this. 

Which Languages Does GitHub Copilot Support?

GitHub Copilot supports the following languages: 

1. Python
2. JavaScript
3. TypeScript
4. Ruby
5. C++
6. Go
7. C# 
8. Java
9. PHP
10. Swift

The quality of suggestions received for each programming language depends on the variety of data in that programming language. For example, the Python programming language is more commonly found in GitHub's public repositories, and therefore Python suggestions are better. Fewer suggestions are produced for programming languages that are less common in public repositories. 
 

Does GitHub Copilot Write Good Code?

GitHub Copilot strives to provide the best code suggestions. However, there are debates about whether Copilot actually writes good code.

GitHub Copilot uses artificial intelligence to make suggestions. It may contain unsafe coding patterns, outdated code API references, and errors. Therefore, the more context you provide, the more accurate and usable these suggestions will be. Also, whether you or the AI writes it, you should always test your code.
 

Will Copilot Replace Developers?

GitHub Copilot is an intriguing development in software engineering. We can see GitHub Copilot as a tool that makes the software development process more efficient. 

Copilot only offers suggestions using existing data. This data is collected from millions of public code repositories on GitHub. As a result, Copilot is not designed to replace developers. Copilot is an extremely useful tool that assists developers in the coding process. 

The Best GitHub Copilot Alternatives

If you're looking for an AI completion system, there are other options you can choose besides GitHub Copilot.

1. Visual Studio IntelliCode

Visual Studio IntelliCode is an AI-powered coding tool trained from GitHub projects. IntelliCode offers an auto-completion feature to make coding faster.

2. Tabnine

Tabnine is one of the oldest code completion programs on the market. By using the Tabnine code completion extension in IDEs, users can train their own AI model. It does this by examining the code that developers have previously written. Thus, the code becomes more secure. 

3. AiXcoder

AiXcoder is a powerful code completion tool that uses deep learning technology. AiXcoder speeds up code writing by allowing users to create customizable shortcuts. Additionally, AiXcoder has a code search engine that can help find API use cases on GitHub.

4. Blackbox

Blackbox allows you to select code from any video and copy it into your text editor. It helps copy code from YouTube, Coursera, or Udemy videos. Blackbox is compatible with almost all programming languages.

5. Amazon CodeWhisperer

Amazon CodeWhisperer is a machine learning (ML) powered tool that increases developers' productivity by generating code suggestions in the integrated development environment (IDE). Automatic code suggestions make developers' work easier.
 

Start Using GitHub Copilot

With the help of GitHub Copilot, you can make the entire coding process smooth and efficient. Also, using GitHub Copilot while learning a new programming language eliminates the need to constantly search for answers online. 

If you want to learn more about Copilot, you can visit the GitHub documentation page. 

If you're curious about how artificial intelligence is trained and processed, you can check out our artificial intelligence and machine learning bootcamps.