The art of simplicity

Imagine learning programming concepts not through dry textbooks or boring exercises, but by embarking on epic quests in mystical realms. Doesn't sound that appealing to you? Yes? Join Copilot Adventures , Microsoft's innovative approach to coding education that transforms programming practice into an engaging, story-driven experience. What is Copilot Adventures? Copilot Adventures is an open-source educational project that combines the power of GitHub Copilot with immersive storytelling to teach programming concepts. Instead of solving abstract problems, you work through coding challenges embedded in rich fantasy narratives—from mechanical clockwork towns to enchanted forests where mystical creatures perform sacred dances. The project leverages GitHub Copilot, Microsoft's AI-powered coding assistant, to help learners write code while exploring these fictional worlds. It's essentially a "choose your own adventure" for programmers, where each story presen...

Last year, when the AI hype really exploded, the 'go to' library to build AI solutions in .NET at that time from Microsoft was Semantic Kernel. So although at that time still in preview, I started using Semantic Kernel and never looked back. Later Microsoft introduced Microsoft.Extensions.AI but I never had the time to take a good look at it. Now I finally found some time to explore it further. My goal is to write a few posts in which I recreate an application that I originally created in Semantic Kernel to see how far we can get. But that will be mainly for the upcoming posts. In this post we focus on the basics to get started. What is Microsoft.Extensions.AI? Microsoft.Extensions.AI libraries provide a unified approach for representing generative AI components and enable seamless integration and interoperability with various AI services. Think of it as the dependency injection and logging abstractions you already know and love but specifically designed for AI services. ...

As rewarding coaching can be, as challenging it is. While reading the 'How to be a more effective coach?' post by JD Meier, he shared one 'bonus' question that really created a breakthrough in how I tackle these coaching conversations. What would make this conversation wildly valuable for you today? This one question makes all the difference as it shifts the focus from you to them , immediately. Why this question works so well It transfers ownership immediately The moment you ask this question, something profound happens. The conversation stops being about your agenda and becomes entirely about theirs. You're not trying to fix, advise, or direct. Instead, you're creating a container for their most important work to emerge. This transfer of ownership is crucial because: People are more invested in solutions they help create People often know what they need better than we do It honors their autonomy and expertise in their own lives ...

Getting started in the world of AI development can be a challenge. Every day new libraries, models and possibilities appear. So what is your first step and where can I find good examples on how to tackle different problems? This is where Microsoft wants to help through the AI Dev Gallery. The AI Dev Gallery is an open-source app designed to help Windows developers integrate AI capabilities within their own apps and projects. The app contains the following: Over 25 interactive samples powered by local AI models Easily explore, download, and run models from Hugging Face and GitHub The ability to view the C# source code and simply export a standalone Visual Studio project for each sample You can download the AI Dev Gallery directly or through the Windows App Store: A walkthrough Let me walk you through some of the features in the AI Dev Gallery application. After opening the app you arrive on the Home page where you have a carrousel of different use cases: ...

Although GitHub Copilot is now available for some time in VSCode, Visual Studio and almost every other popular IDE, for a lot of people it still feels new and unfamiliar. If you are one of these people I have some good news for you; the Visual Studio team got you covered. Because a GitHub Copilot walkthrough was added to Visual Studio. This walkthrough is an interactive guide that helps you to understand and use GitHub Copilot’s features step-by-step. To active the walkthrough, click on the GitHub Copilot icon in the top right corner and choose GitHub Copilot Walkthrough from the context menu: This will give you a general introduction on what GitHub Copilot has to offer:   To be honest I am a little bit disappointed in what this walkthrough shows. My hope was that it would walk you through a set of scenarios, showing how GitHub Copilot can help in each of these cases. Maybe something for a next Visual Studio Release? More information Agent mode for every developer...

After using the GitHub Copilot Agent mode for some time in VS Code, I finally found some time to give it a try in Visual Studio. Agent mode got introduced as part of the 17.14 release so if you are still using an older Visual Studio version, please update first. Remark: Other interesting AI features in the same release are Next Edit Suggestions and AI comment generation . Let’s dive in! Open Visual Studio and go to the GitHub Copilot Chat window :   Click on the dropdown icon next to Ask and choose Agent : Remark: Notice that the Edits feature has disappeared. So you only have Ask or Agent . I don’t know if the feature is still there, but at least I couldn’t find it… Now we can ask the agent to perform specific tasks or let it figure out a solution based on a PRD (Product Requirement Document) or similar you’ve provided. So far so good. The not-so-secret superpower of agents is that they are not limited to your IDE but can interact with the outsid...