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Merge pull request #41 from oscarlevin/copilot
write first draft of copilot section
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‎assets/screenshots/copilot-icon.png‎

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‎requirements.txt‎

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# <!-- Managed automatically by PreTeXt authoring tools -->
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pretext == 2.10.1
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‎source/ch-copilot.ptx‎

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<chapter xml:id="ch-copilot" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
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<title>Copilot and Other AI Assistants</title>
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<introduction>
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<p>
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In this chapter we will explore GitHub's <term>Copilot</term> features, as well as how other AI assistants can be used with GitHub and VS Code.
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</p>
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<p>
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Note that almost everything in this chapter will likely be out of date almost immediately.
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The current suggestions here are up to date as of <strong>2025-01-08</strong>.
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</p>
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</introduction>
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<section xml:id="sec-options">
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<title>AI Assistant Options</title>
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<p>
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<term>Copilot</term> is GitHub's AI assistant, tightly integrated with GitHub and VS Code through a pair of extensions. There is currently a free tier that allows for a limited number of interactions each month, as well as a $10/month plan that provides unlimited interactions with Copilot (there is a free trial of the paid version as well).
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</p>
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<p>
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Depending on what you want to do with your project, other AI assistants might be a better fit.
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One notable alternative that might work even better for coding projects is <url href="https://codeium.com">Codeium</url>.
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In particular, Codeium has a free tier that appears to offer unlimited interactions.
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Like Copilot, Codeium also works with VS Code through an extension and the two use similar interfaces, so it should be relatively easy to switch between the two.
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</p>
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<p>
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All of the specific commands described below will be those of Copilot, but often the same commands will work with Codeium.
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In any event, we will focus on general principles of how to use these coding assistants.
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</p>
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</section>
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<section xml:id="sec-setup">
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<title>Setup</title>
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<p>
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We will assume you want to use Copilot from inside VS Code, either on your own machine or in a Github Codespace.
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To get set up, follow the <url href="https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/quickstart?tool=vscode">Quick Start Guide</url> from the Copilot documentation.
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</p>
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<p>
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In particular, make sure you have
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>
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Enabled Copilot in your Github account.
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>
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Installed the Copilot extension in VS Code.
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</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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</p>
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<p>
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That should be it.
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</p>
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</section>
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<section xml:id="sec-copilot-features">
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<title>Features</title>
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<p>
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There are three main ways you can interact with Copilot from inside VS Code:
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<ol>
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<li>
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<p>
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By accepting <q>ghost text</q> suggestions as you type.
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Copilot will will show you the most likely words to appear next to your cursor in light gray text.
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Hitting <c>TAB</c> will accept the current suggestion in full; <c>CTRL+RightArrow</c> will accept one word at a time.
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>
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Use Copilot Chat by clicking the Copilot icon at the top of the VS Code window, right of the search bar (see <xref ref="copilot-icon"/>).
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Select <q>Open chat</q> to open a panel on the right side of the window.
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This panel allows you to <q>Ask Copilot</q> questions, similar to using ChatGPT or another AI chatbot.
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The key difference is that Copilot uses your current file or workspace (or another selected source) as its context.
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You can also use voice commands to ask questions and have Copilot read its answers aloud.
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>
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By using Copilot's <term>inline chat</term>.
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While typing in the editor, or with a selection highlighted, you can use <c>CTRL+I</c> to get a floating chat window that can provide suggestions based on your cursor position or the current selection.
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You can accept or discard edits suggested by copilot easily from this interface.
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</p>
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</li>
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</ol>
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</p>
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<figure xml:id="copilot-icon">
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<caption>The copilot icon at the top of VS Code.</caption>
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<image source="screenshots/copilot-icon.png">
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<shortdescription>
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screenshot of vs code with the copilot icon clicked.
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</shortdescription>
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</image>
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</figure>
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</section>
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<section xml:id="sec-things-to-try">
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<title>Things to Try</title>
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<p>
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Here are a few features of Copilot you might want to try out.
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>
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Suppose you are trying to write some code in a language you are not that familiar with. Copilot will suggest the next bit of code for you as you type. To get better suggestions, put in a comment describing what you want to do. (Hint: if you don't know the syntax for comments, hit <c>CTRL+/</c> to start a comment in most languages.)
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>
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Does the code do what you want it to? Is it confusing? Ask Copilot to <em>explain</em> the code to you. You can select the code, hit <c>CTRL+I</c>, and then type <c>/explain</c> (note the forward slash).
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>
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Along these lines, try asking Copilot to document your code for you. Select the code, hit <c>CTRL+I</c>, and then type <c>/doc</c>.
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>
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Here is something I just did while writing this. I realized that I wanted all the keyboard shortcuts to be displayed as code, which in <pretext /> is done by enclosing them in <tag>c</tag> tags. So I selected the entire document, hit <c>CTRL+I</c> and typed <q>wrap all keyboard shortcuts here with <tag>c</tag> tags.</q> Copilot then let me see where it made changes (line by line) and let me accept them or not.
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</p>
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<p>
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A very new Copilot feature is <term>Copilot Edits</term>, which allow you to do such things for multiple files at the same time. I suspect this could also be useful for finding typos.
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>
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If you are working on a mathematical proof or a complex equation, you can ask Copilot to help you format it correctly in LaTeX. Simply type your equation or proof in plain text, select it, hit <c>CTRL+I</c>, and ask Copilot to convert it to LaTeX. This can save you a lot of time and ensure that your mathematical notation is accurate.
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</p>
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<p>
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NOTE: I don't know if that's true, the above paragraph was generated by Copilot from the prompt <q>Write a suggestion of something Copilot can do for a mathematician.</q>
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</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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</p>
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</section>
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</chapter>

‎source/main.ptx‎

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<xi:include href="ch-first-repo.ptx"/>
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<xi:include href="ch-coding.ptx"/>
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<xi:include href="ch-website.ptx"/>
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<xi:include href="ch-copilot.ptx"/>
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<xi:include href="ch-collaboration.ptx"/>
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<xi:include href="ch-jupyter.ptx"/>
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<xi:include href="ch-projects.ptx"/>

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