Explore how microservices fueled the journey from APIs to containers and paved the way for enhanced API development and software integration.

In recent years, the rise of microservices has drastically changed the way we build and deploy software. The most important aspect of this shift has been the move from traditional API architectures driven by monolithic applications to containerized microservices. This shift not only improved the scalability and flexibility of our systems, but it has also given rise to new ways of software development and deployment approaches. 

In this article, we will explore the path from APIs to containers and examine how microservices have paved the way for enhanced API development and software integration. Read More

GitHub Copilot is evolving to bring chat and voice interfaces, support pull requests, answer questions on docs, and adopt OpenAI’s GPT-4 for a more personalized developer experience

At GitHub, our mission has always been to innovate ahead of the curve and give developers everything they need to be happier and more productive in a world powered by software. When we began experimenting with large language models several years ago, it quickly became clear that generative AI represents the future of software development. We partnered with OpenAI to create GitHub Copilot, the world’s first at-scale generative AI development tool made with OpenAI’s Codex model, a descendent of GPT-3.

GitHub Copilot started a new age of software development as an AI pair programmer that keeps developers in the flow by auto-completing comments and code. And less than two years since its launch, GitHub Copilot is already writing 46% of code and helps developers code up to 55% faster. Read More

Today, we’re announcing the next generation of AI product updates across our business applications portfolio, including the launch of the new Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot – providing interactive, AI-powered assistance across business functions.

According to our recent survey on business trends, nearly 9 out of 10 workers hope to use AI to reduce repetitive tasks in their jobs. With Dynamics 365 Copilot, organizations empower their workers with AI tools built for sales, service, marketing, operations and supply chain roles. These AI capabilities allow everyone to spend more time on the best parts of their jobs and less time on mundane tasks. Read More

GitHub today announced that Copilot for Business, the company’s $19/month enterprise version of its AI-powered code completion tool, is now generally available, after a short beta phase that started last December. Copilot for Business adds features like license management, organization-wide policy management and additional privacy features. Until now, you had to work with GitHub’s sales organization to sign up for the business version, but now there is a self-serve option as well.

“[This] effectively completes our v1 Copilot story,” GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke told me. “We announced the preview in June 2021 — which feels like ages ago — and then had the general availability last summer. Now we are ready to roll it out to organizations, companies, teams, enterprises — really everybody. In fact, we already have more than 400 organizations that are on Copilot for Business at launch and we see tremendous interest.” Read More

GitHub Next has unveiled a project called Code Brushes which uses machine learning to update code “like painting with Photoshop”.

Using the feature, developers can “brush” over their code to see it update in real-time.

Several different brushes are included to achieve various aims. For example, one brush makes code more readable—especially important when coding as part of a team or contributing to open-source projects.

… Code Brushes also supports the creation of custom brushes. One example is a brush to make a form “more accessible” automatically. Read More

Programmers must be educated about strong coding practices

Forward-looking: Machine learning algorithms are all the rage now, as they are used to generate any kind of “original” content after being trained on enormous pre-existing datasets. Code-generating AIs, however, could pose a real issue for software security in the future.

AI systems like GitHub Copilot promise to make programmers’ lives easier by creating entire chunks of “new” code based on natural-language textual inputs and pre-existing context. But code-generating algorithms can also bring an insecurity factor to the table, as a new study involving several developers has recently found. Read More