GitHub launches Copilot Chat beta for business users of Visual Studio, VS Code

Copilot Chat will offer context-specific support to developers. This means that when engineers are stuck on a particular code snippet or need guidance on a specific programming concept, they can look to the chatbot for help. It will also give real-time guidance by suggesting best practices, tips and solutions that are tailored to the programming challenge at hand.

It will also help engineers fix security issues by making suggestions to reduce the number of vulnerabilities found during security scans. Also, if a coder does not know what a code block is supposed to do, they can ask Copilot Chat, which will break down complex concepts and explain code snippets. Copilot Chat can also help troubleshoot by identifying issues and offering suggestions, explanations and alternative approaches.

“Weeks or months spent slogging over unit tests and endless backlogs of boilerplate code will be a thing of the past. As the centrepiece feature of GitHub. Copilot X, we believe Copilot Chat will swing the doors wide open to a new age where natural language powers the coding experience, democratising software development as we know it and making entire teams of developers happier and more productive,” said Mario Rodriguez, vice president of product at GitHub, in a press statement.

According to Rodriguez, the introduction of tools like GitHub Copilot means that developers can focus on building rather than on troubleshooting and other tasks that can be handled by the chatbot.