Level up with Copilot Chat

GitHub Copilot Chat is an innovative chat interface that allows developers to ask and receive answers to coding-related questions directly within a supported IDE. It brings the power of Copilot to developers by providing a conversational interface that offers new ways to get the most out of an AI-powered coding assistant.

Copilot Chat is tailored to the developer's context, allowing them to ask for coding advice ; It allows developers to explore new ideas, experiment with different solutions in a seamless and interactive way. Copilot chat helps developers to work faster and smarter by reducing the need for searching, browsing, or switching between multiple tools and tabs. It also leverages the power of GitHub Copilot to generate and complete code snippets, tests, and documentation based on context and activity of the developer. Lastly, it provides developers with helpful tips, tricks, and resources to improve their skills and learn new things which contributes to their happiness

Let's explore the use cases of Copilot Chat and see how it can help developers.

As a developer, I want to understand and improve an existing code

Copilot Chat is an invaluable tool for developers looking to understand and improve their code. By leveraging the power of AI-driven code analysis, Copilot Chat provides developers with detailed feedback on their code, helping them identify potential issues and optimize their code for better performance. Developers can take their code to the next level and ensure their code is running at its best.

Explaining the code

When starting on an unknown codebase (or simply returning to the code you wrote three months ago), you may feel a little lost. Thankfully, the Copilot Chat command /explain can help :

copilot_chat_explain

Improve the code

You can also use the command `/simplify`` command to obviously make the selected code simpler.

copilot_chat_simplify

And you can use /fix to resolve simple compilation errors

copilot_chat_fix_compilation

Or you can fix more advanced issues like encryption algorithm.

copilot_chat_fix_toString

As a developer, I need to develop unit tests

Writing unit tests can be a daunting task for developers, but Copilot Chat makes it easy. With Copilot Chat, developers can quickly and easily create unit tests that are reliable and accurate.

With its intuitive interface, Copilot Chat allows developers to quickly create tests that are tailored to their specific needs.

/test

If you want to create unit tests for a new feature or adding more tests to an existing one, here is how Copilot can help you

You just need to select the code you want to test and type : /tests. Copilot Chat will propose some tests that you can then insert into your project

copilot_chat_tests_basic

In this example, Copilot generates four unit tests of the same method with a nominal case and three edge cases.

Precise tests

But if you have another test in mind, you can just ask.

copilot_chat_tests_specific

This is especially useful for adding unit tests for specific edge cases or during a bug fix.

TDD

In software development, Test Driven Development (TDD) is a very popular development process that relies on software requirements being converted to test cases before software is fully developed, and tracking all software development by repeatedly testing the software against all test cases.

Without selecting code, you can ask for a test for a method while describing what the method is intended to do.

copilot_chat_tests_tdd

As a result, you will notice an increase in your code coverage.

As a developer, I want to improve the security of my code

As a developer, you know the importance of secure code, but you aren't necessarily a security expert. With Copilot Chat, you can easily improve the security of your code with just a few clicks.

Usually, you need to fix vulnerabilities coming from your favorite static application security testing (SAST) tool, GitHub CodeQL, and It isn't always straightforward to find the right fix.

Let's take an example, a Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF). Ok, What is it ?

copilot_chat_SSRF_explain

Now, you have a better understanding of what a SSRF is. But How could you fix it in your context ?

copilot_chat_SSRF_fix

This answer is great, but I want the fix to implement a deny list.

copilot_chat_SSRF_fix_better

Conclusion

Whether you need to grasp the logic of existing code, create accurate and robust unit tests, or troubleshoot any kind of problem - from syntax errors to security flaws - Copilot Chat is your smart and reliable pair programmer.

[…] And this is only the tip of the iceberg of what AI and Copilot will bring to the developer!


Tags: blog, security, AI, Copilot

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