<aside> 💡 The main benefit I’ve seen from using Copilot Chat is the decreased feeling of “loneliness” when learning a new language. The chat feature does feel more of a “copiloting” experience, as if I was pair programming with someone. Here are some practical dos and don’ts I came up with when integrating copilot chat in my learning process.

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Language Exploration

Do:

• Request code examples
• Ask to explain documentation
• Translate code to other language
• Evaluate small experiments

Don’t:

• Not consult official documentation
• Provide huge chunks of code to explain
• Ask to validate assumptions

Familiar Minor Project

Do:

• Ask to generate project boilerplate
• Ask to organize basic requirements
• Ask questions about design patterns

Don’t:

• Let it do all the work
• Try to understand generated boilerplate

Coding Problems

Do:

• Use it as a cheatsheet
• Ask about available APIs/Data Structures
• Ask for test cases
• Request hints

Don’t:

• Ask to write the algorithm
• Use it as an autocomplete feature
• Ask for it to solve the problem

Capstone Project

Do:

• Use chat as a rubber duck
• Generate basic automated test suite

Don’t:

• Use auto-complete features
• Ask for hints
• Use auto-generated boilerplate