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Xcode IDE from Microsoft Archrival Apple Gets Copilot AI

Just after expanding the reach of its Copilot AI coding assistant to the open-source Eclipse IDE, Microsoft showcased how it's going even further, detailing a preview version for the Xcode IDE from archrival Apple.

Last week we reported the dev team was putting code completion in a public preview for the open-source Eclipse IDE that primarily caters to Java developers.

Two days later came the announcement of a similar public preview for the Xcode IDE, which is used for developing software for Apple's macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and tvOS operating systems -- some being competitors to Redmond's products. The AI tech has now been widely adopted in Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio 2022, Xcode, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, Eclipse and Azure Data Studio.

"We're excited to announce that GitHub Copilot for Xcode Chat is now in public preview, bringing the power of AI to help developers code more efficiently," the dev team's Hang Wang, program manager, said. "With just a GitHub account, you can enable Copilot in Xcode and start leveraging AI-driven suggestions and interactive chat features today."

While not coming as an extension as does the Eclipse and some other tools for various IDEs and code editors, the project can be found at the GitHub Copilot for Xcode repo. It can be installed through a Homebrew command-line interface.

As with all the IDE and editor tools, a GitHub Copilot subscription is required. Other prerequisites include macOS 12 or greater and Xcode 8 or greater.

While Chat is in preview, one capability of the tool is standard code completions: "You can receive auto-complete type suggestions from GitHub Copilot either by starting to write the code you want to use, or by writing a natural language comment describing what you want the code to do."

GitHub Copilot Chat for Xcode in Animated Action
[Click on image for larger, animated GIF view.] GitHub Copilot Chat for Xcode in Animated Action (source: Microsoft/GitHub).

Microsoft-owned GitHub, the creator of the original "AI pair programmer," listed what's new in its own Feb. 13 blog post.

  • Chat view: Ask Copilot for help with coding tasks directly in the chat view.
  • Slash commands: Use quick commands, like /explain for code explanations.
  • Reference code: Scope chats to specific files for more relevant assistance.
  • Multiple conversations: Maintain different threads, each with their own context.
  • Chat history management: Keep track of past conversations for future reference.
  • Free access: Get 2,000 code completions and 50 chat messages per month for free, simply by signing in with your GitHub account or by creating a new one.

As far as we can tell -- the exact number of AI Copilots unleashed upon the world is apparently unknowable, like the value of Pi, incomprehensible to machines or humans -- it looks like this is now the list of supported IDEs and editors.

About the Author

David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.

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