The folks at GitHub have announced the launch of GitHub Copilot. This new programming tool allows developers to write and complete code through the power of AI, for an affordable cost of $10 a month or $100 a year.
How does GitHub Copilot work? Well, it is an extension and it can suggest the next line of code in real-time in environments like Visual Studio Code. It can also suggest complete methods, boilerplate code, whole unit tests, and even complex algorithms. All of this works based on the knowledge of what developers have already inputted. Here’s some more to it, according to the GitHub teams.
- Get AI-based coding suggestions: Get code suggestions that match a project’s context and style conventions, and cycle through different options to decide what to accept, reject, or edit.
- Use your preferred environment: Integrate GitHub Copilot with popular editors, including Neovim, JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, and Visual Studio Code as an unobtrusive extension.
- Code confidently in unfamiliar territory: Code in new languages or try something new, and let GitHub Copilot suggest syntax and code in dozens of languages—so you can spend more time learning by doing.
If you’re a student, you can apply to get this for free. The same also applies if you’re an open-source maintainer. Companies will be able to enjoy GitHub Copilot later this year. Over 1.2 million developers have already used the technical preview of Copilot over the last 12 months.
