Github Copilot - Pair Programming

In Pair Programming, Github Copilot can act as third virtual collaborator that helps the pair by synchronizing the code and avoiding merge conflicts. In this section, we will explore how to use GitHub Copilot for pair programming and examples of using Copilot in a team environment.

What is Pair Programming?

Pair programming is a software development technique where two developers work together on a same project, sharing code, ideas, and feedback. One developer writes the code while the other reviews it, providing suggestions and feedback. Pair programming helps improve code quality, reduce bugs, and increase productivity.

Copilot For Pair Programming

• Real-time Collaboration: Copilot can be used for pair programming, where two developers work together on a same project, sharing code, ideas, and feedback. Copilot can suggest code snippets, refactoring, and optimizations in real-time, helping developers collaborate more effectively.

• Code Suggestions: Copilot can suggest code snippets, refactoring, and optimizations while working on a project with multiple developers. Copilot can help improve code quality, consistency, and maintainability by suggesting best practices and common coding patterns.

• Code Reviews: Copilot can help code reviewers by suggesting improvements, handling edge cases, and code refactoring. Copilot can suggest alternative implementations, optimizations, and error handling techniques to improve code quality.

• Resolve Merge Conflicts: Copilot can help resolve merge conflicts by suggesting code snippets that can be used to resolve conflicts. Copilot can analyze the code changes made by different developers and suggest the best way to merge the changes.

Copilot Resolving Merge Conflicts

Consider a scenario in which two developers are working on different parts of a user profile module and commit conflicting changes to the same file.

• Developer 1: Updates the user profile picture upload logic

• Developer 2: Adds an email validation function to the same file. This will cause a conflict as email validation logic is added to the same function where profile picture upload logic is added.

When merging, a conflict occurs in the user profile handler file. Both developers struggle to resolve it manually. GitHub Copilot analyzes both sets of changes and suggests a merged version:

function handleUserProfileUpdate(data) {
   // Email validation logic added by Tom
   if (!isValidEmail(data.email)) {
      return 'Invalid email address';
   }

   // Profile picture update logic added by Anna
   if (data.profilePicture) {
      uploadProfilePicture(data.profilePicture);
   }

   // Other user profile update logic...
}