Skip to content

GitHub Copilot Fundamentals Part 1 of 2

Microsoft and GitHub · on Microsoft Learn

FreebeginnerSelf-paced

The official introduction to GitHub Copilot: responsible use, prompt engineering, Copilot Spaces, advanced features, Copilot in the IDE, chat, GitHub.com and the command line, plan management and customization, and generating unit tests. For developers and admins new to Copilot who want the free vendor path before Part 2 or the GitHub Copilot certification.

Who it's for

Aspiring builders, career switchers and working developers. This is a beginner-level course in Coding with AI, running about 9 modules, ~5 hours 15 minutes.

Cost at a glance

Free. Free on Microsoft Learn; Microsoft lists basic GitHub knowledge as the only prerequisite. Price seen 2026-11-01.

Compare the alternatives

AI for App Building

Google · $49/mo

More in Coding with AI

Codecademy
Paid

AI-Assisted Development with Claude Code

Moves from vibe coding to disciplined agentic coding with Claude Code, covering specs, test-driven development and context engineering, and ends with building a Tic-Tac-Toe game in Node.js. For beginners who learn best with interactive lessons and want a certificate; Codecademy suggests its Learn Prompt Engineering course first.

beginner ~2 hours (2 lessons, 1 project) Certificate
DeepLearning.AI and Windsurf·DeepLearning.AI
Free to audit

Build Apps with Windsurf's AI Coding Agents

Shows how agentic coding tools break down complex apps across multiple files, with hands-on work in Windsurf debugging and refactoring JavaScript, updating a large legacy codebase, and building a Wikipedia data analysis app. For developers with basic coding and prompting skills who want to see how an AI IDE agent uses tools and context.

beginner ~1.5 hours (12 video lessons) Certificate
Free to audit Visit course
DeepLearning.AI
Free to audit

Build with Andrew

Andrew Ng walks complete non-programmers through describing an app idea in plain language and having AI build a working browser-based web app, then customizing it and reusing the approach on other projects such as a ping pong game. The gentlest on-ramp to vibe coding for anyone who has never written code.

beginner ~1 hour (5 video lessons) Certificate
Free to audit Visit course