Learning GitHub Copilot

Chapter 6. Using Copilot to Document and Explain Code

As developers, we all know that having good documentation with our code is essential. The documentation within the codebase makes it more understandable, reviewable, and maintainable in the long run. Documentation in the code is a crucial contributor to the overall quality of the code and the quality of the product built from the code.

However, we also know that taking the time and effort to create good documentation can seem tedious and can feel like a much lower priority than the fun of making the code itself. So, continuing with the theme of how Copilot can help you beyond coding suggestions and answering questions, let’s look at how it can help automate this task.

In this chapter, we’ll look at several aspects of using Copilot’s documentation capabilities, including generating documentation via the editor and chat interfaces. But we’ll also show you how to leverage Copilot to produce content for use cases you may not have considered, such as external documentation for APIs, functional documentation, and more.

We’ll also look at how to use Copilot to explain code. While this is an often overlooked feature of Copilot, it has tremendous potential for helping engineers at all levels understand code and algorithms. Some beneficial use cases include explaining code from an unfamiliar language or framework, checking the logic of your code with explanations, and leveraging Copilot to explain commands happening in the terminal