Foundations of Coding Assistants with GitHub Copilot 

Duration: 1 Day / 8 hrs

Introduction 

This one-day course provides a practical foundation in AI-powered coding assistants using GitHub Copilot. Participants learn how to use Copilot for code generation, refactoring, testing, and documentation—while applying prompt engineering techniques to get accurate, reliable, and production-ready results. 

Objectives 

By the end of this GitHub Copilot training, participants will be able to: 

  • Understand how AI coding assistants work and where they add value 
  • Set up and use GitHub Copilot for coding, testing, and documentation 
  • Apply prompt engineering techniques for better code suggestions 
  • Use Copilot Chat, CLI, and advanced features effectively 

Key Takeaways 

Participants will leave with: 

  • Hands-on experience using GitHub Copilot in real coding scenarios 
  • A clear understanding of prompt engineering for AI-assisted development 
  • Faster, more confident workflows using modern coding assistants 

Course Outline: 

Introduction to GenAI Coding Assistants 

  • Definition and capabilities 
  • Overview of popular coding assistants 

Setting Up GitHub Copilot 

  • Code and documentation generation 
  • Code completion and suggestions 
  • Test generation, debugging, and troubleshooting 
  • Code translation and refactoring 

Basics of Prompt Engineering 

  • Importance of prompt engineering 
  • Techniques: 
  • Zero-shot prompting 
  • One-shot and few-shot prompting 
  • Chain-of-Thought and Tree-of-Thoughts 
  • Evaluating and refining prompts 
  • Common mistakes 

Applying Prompt Engineering to Coding 

  • Practical use cases with GitHub Copilot 

Exploring GitHub Copilot Features 

  • Copilot Chat and CLI 
  • Pull request summaries and workspaces 
  • Slash commands and chat variables 
  • Repository indexing and multi-file edits 
  • Prompt engineering for Copilot 
  • Extensions, code review, and preview features