Empowering Students

A Comprehensive Guide to Azure for Students and GitHub Copilot for Success

Chiamaka Anyanwu
The Degree Diary
4 min readAug 10, 2023

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Technology has advanced the way we learn, work and create. For students, leveraging the power of cutting-edge tools can lead to an advantage in their academic pursuits and career path. Revolutionary tools, like Microsoft Azure and Github Co-Pilot, have taken the world by storm. This article aims to guide students in optimizing their learning, development and collaboration experiences with Microsoft Azure for Students and Github Co-pilot.

Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform run by Microsoft, which offers management, access and development of applications and services through global data centres. Azure’s generous offering of free credits for students empowers the next generation of innovators to experiment fearlessly, collaborate seamlessly, and harness cutting-edge cloud services without breaking the bank. Here are some features that students can benefit from by using Azure

  1. Cloud Computing Services: Azure offers networking, storage and computing power on the cloud. Students can access these services at no cost of investing in physical hardware, this also enhances and empowers them to work on complex projects and experiments without being limited to hardware.
  2. Learning and skills development: Azure’s broad range of services includes solutions in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, big data analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), among others. Students who utilize Azure have first-hand exposure to cutting-edge tools and technology, which is very beneficial in the current employment environment.
  3. Cost Savings and Real-World Experience: Through its Azure for Students program which allows students to access a wide range of tools at no cost, which makes it affordable to experiment and learn. This gives students with Cloud Computing experience an advantage in the labour market.
  4. Collaboration and Team Projects: Azure enables seamless collaboration for students working on group projects.t allows them to share resources, data, and applications in the cloud, facilitating teamwork regardless of physical location.
  5. Flexibility and Scalability: The pay-as-you-go model allows students to start small and scale up their projects
  6. Integration Across Industries: Azure is extensively utilized across several sectors, including technology, healthcare, finance, and more. Students may position themselves for employment in these fields and obtain knowledge of how cloud computing is used in practical situations by becoming familiar with Azure.
  7. Research and experimentation: Azure provides several services that may be used for these activities. With the aid of its potent computer skills, students may use their academic endeavours to analyze data, perform simulations, and carry out experiments.

Getting Started With Github Copilot

GitHub CoPilot

GitHub Copilot is an AI pair programmer that provides suggestions similar to autocomplete as you code. By beginning to write the code you want to use or by writing a comment in natural language describing what you want the code to do, you can get suggestions from GitHub Copilot. GitHub Copilot offers suggestions from within your text editor after analyzing the context of the file you are editing as well as related files. GitHub Copilot is controlled by OpenAI Codex, another man-made intelligence framework made by OpenAI.

Its seamless integration with Visual Studio and other IDEs features makes it easier for developers to incorporate its capabilities into their existing workflow. It's easy to install Copilot’s extension allowing users to access and utilize its AI-powered code suggestions.

Learning from Copilot also enhances coding skills and improves efficiency. With real-time code suggestions, users are exposed to different coding patterns and best practices in providing solutions to common coding problems. Copilot can also assist in introducing new programming languages thereby enabling users to experiment.

To maximize the potential of GitHub Copilot while avoiding pitfalls, developers should approach it as a powerful coding assistant rather than an all-knowing solution. Regular code review is essential to ensure accuracy and adherence to project requirements. Providing clear contextual input enables Copilot to deliver more relevant suggestions. Emphasizing learning from its code snippets, developers can improve coding skills and stay updated on best practices. However, they must also balance Copilot’s efficiency with their creativity, avoiding over-reliance to maintain individual problem-solving abilities. While Copilot streamlines coding, developers must remain mindful of security concerns, refraining from sharing sensitive or proprietary information directly with the tool. By following these best practices, developers can harness Copilot’s capabilities effectively and integrate it seamlessly into their coding process.

To access Microsoft Azure and GitHub Copilot, students can follow these steps:

  1. Microsoft Azure:
  • Visit the official Microsoft Azure for Students website.
  • Sign up using a valid academic email address or verification through your educational institution.
  • Upon verification, students will receive free Azure credits, which can be used to access a wide range of cloud services and resources.

2. GitHub Copilot:

  • To access GitHub Copilot, students need to have a GitHub account.
  • If they already have a GitHub account, they can request access to the Copilot preview by going to the GitHub Copilot page and clicking the “Request access” button.
  • If they don’t have a GitHub account, they can create one for free on the GitHub website.
  • Once the access request is approved, students can start using GitHub Copilot in supported code editors like Visual Studio Code by installing the Copilot extension.

Both Microsoft Azure and GitHub Copilot offer free access specifically tailored to students, providing them with valuable resources and tools to enhance their learning, development, and collaboration experiences.

In Conclusion,a variety of tech careers can reap the rewards of Microsoft Azure and GitHub Copilot, enabling faster coding, advanced analytics, cloud infrastructure, efficient CI/CD pipelines, and bolstered security solutions, all while nurturing skill development and productivity across diverse industries.

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Chiamaka Anyanwu
The Degree Diary

I am a young dedicated, resilient and talented lady who is determined to solve societal problems by apply skills in software development. I write too.