News

Copilot AI Enhanced in Flurry of Visual Studio v17.12 Previews

• By David Ramel
• 10/17/2024

Since announcing Visual Studio 2022 v17.11 in August, Microsoft's dev team has been busy shipping a series of AI-heavy previews for the next edition.

That previous release, shaped by user feedback, introduced AI-generated breakpoint expressions, the ability for Copilot to understand symbols and provide refined suggestions, and improvements in areas such as debugging and unit test generation, along with much more.

For v17.12, the dev team is again focusing on AI, judging by the number of highlighted new features in preview release notes. There were more Copilot items listed than in any of the other 10 areas of improvement, which range from cloud to .NET.

Here's a quick summary of what's been done with Copilot in three v17.12 previews that Microsoft has shipped, the most recent coming Tuesday, in Microsoft's own words.

• AI smart variable inspection -- Optimize your debugging workflow with Integrated AI variable inspection: Inspecting and analyzing values from Locals, Autos, and DataTips has never been easier with Ask GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio. Simply right-click on any value to get detailed AI-driven insights on errors, unexpected outcomes, or anomalies -- all without ever leaving your IDE.

  

• AI-powered IEnumerable Visualizer -- AI-powered LINQ Editable Expressions in the IEnumerable Visualizer: We have enhanced the editable expression feature in the IEnumerable Visualizer with AI assistance. The new Ask Copilot feature allows users to leverage AI directly within the editable expression textbox to craft complex LINQ expressions.
• Debug tests with GitHub Copilot -- Get help with debugging failed tests by using Debug Tests with GitHub Copilot: Need help debugging your failing unit tests. Now GitHub Copilot can help by providing you with a debug plan and guiding you through debugging the failed test to get you closer to passing by clicking on the Debug with Copilot button in Test Explorer.
• Fix code with GitHub Copilot -- GitHub Copilot assists you in resolving code issues: GitHub Copilot is now integrated into the lightbulb and error list, providing you with quick fixes and insightful explanations for code issues. Whether you're developing in C# or C++, this feature helps you understand and resolve problems in your codebase more efficiently.
• Better AI completions for C# -- GitHub Copilot brings in additional context from relevant source files to improve completions for C#: To enhance the experience for C# developers, we've updated GitHub Copilot to include additional C# context, such as available types and methods in completions.
• Code referencing in GitHub Copilot -- Introducing code referencing in GitHub Copilot, allowing you to permit code suggestions containing public code matches while receiving detailed information about the match: This new capability provides transparency for developers by notifying them when GitHub Copilot suggestions match public code. You can now see the matching code, its source file, and any associated licensing information, helping them make more informed decisions while coding.
• Guided chat in GitHub Copilot -- Introducing a new, more conversational way to chat with GitHub Copilot: We've introduced a more interactive and conversational way to use GitHub Copilot Chat. Now, instead of feeling stuck or unsure, GitHub Copilot will guide you with clarifying questions when context is unclear, ensuring more accurate and helpful responses.
• Starter prompts in GitHub Copilot -- Get started quicker with starter prompts in GitHub Copilot Chat! Need help getting started with GitHub Copilot Chat? We've introduced a few starter prompts to inspire and guide you through your first interactions. These pre-selected questions are designed to spark ideas and help you explore the full potential of GitHub Copilot's capabilities.

Read the release notes for more on what the team is doing for productivity, debugging & diagnostics, Git tooling, IDE, Cloud, Desktop, Web, Data, .NET and C++, along with top user-reported bug fixes and more.