Software Development

GitHub Copilot has evolved from an AI code completion tool into a comprehensive development assistant. Today it supports the entire software development lifecycle, helping developers write code, review changes, automate tasks, and rapidly prototype new ideas.

Writing Code

• Code Completion (2021) – Provides inline AI code suggestions while you type. Best for: Faster coding and reducing repetitive work.
• Copilot Chat (2023) – Answers coding questions, explains code, generates tests, and assists with debugging. Best for: Learning and problem solving.
• Copilot Edits (2024) – Applies coordinated changes across multiple files from a single prompt. Best for: Refactoring and implementing features.

Code Quality

• Code Review (2024) – Detects bugs, performance issues, and improvement opportunities. Best for: Improving code before human review.
• Pull Request Summaries (2024) – Automatically creates clear summaries of code changes. Best for: Better collaboration and documentation.

AI Agents

• Agent Mode (2025) – Plans, edits, tests, and iterates directly within your IDE. Best for: Interactive, multi-step development tasks.
• Coding Agent (2025) – Works asynchronously on GitHub by completing issues and opening pull requests. Best for: Automating routine development work.

Advanced AI

• Multi-Model Support (2024) – Lets you switch between different AI models to suit each task.
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) (2024) – Connects Copilot to repositories, documentation, APIs, and external tools, enabling richer context and more accurate AI assistance.
• GitHub Spark (2025) – Generates interactive application prototypes from natural-language prompts. Best for: Quickly validating ideas and creating proof-of-concepts.

Together, these capabilities transform GitHub Copilot from a coding assistant into an AI-powered development platform that helps developers build software faster, with greater confidence and less repetitive work.

AI-generated code is most valuable when it follows your project's conventions. Instead of repeating coding rules in every prompt, you can store them in an instruction file. GitHub Copilot automatically uses these instructions when generating code, helping produce more consistent results across the repository.

What instruction files are

Instruction files define general project guidance, such as:

• Coding style
• Naming conventions
• Architecture preferences
• Testing requirements
• Documentation standards

Unlike prompts, instruction files do not perform actions. They simply provide persistent context for Copilot.

How to create an instruction file

1. Create a .github/instructions folder if it does not already exist.
2. Create a Markdown instruction file.
3. Add the development rules you want Copilot to follow.
4. Commit the file with your repository so the whole team benefits.

Example

# .github/instructions/coding.instructions.md

## Coding Standards

- Use C# 13 features where appropriate.
- Prefer dependency injection.
- Write XML documentation for public APIs.
- Use async/await for I/O operations.
- Add unit tests for new functionality.

Once saved, Copilot can use these guidelines whenever it generates code for your project.

Best practices

• Keep instructions concise.
• Separate unrelated topics into multiple files.
• Review them as your project evolves.
• Avoid conflicting rules.

GitHub Copilot has evolved from an AI code completion tool into a powerful development assistant. With the introduction of AI development agents, Copilot can now help automate entire development workflows rather than simply suggesting individual lines of code.

Instead of acting as an autocomplete tool, AI agents understand high-level objectives, plan the required steps, modify multiple files, execute tests, review results, and assist with completing development tasks. Developers remain in control, reviewing and approving changes while Copilot handles much of the repetitive implementation work.

What GitHub Copilot Can Do

Modern GitHub Copilot agents can assist with tasks such as:

• Implementing new features
• Fixing bugs and refactoring code
• Writing and improving tests
• Generating or updating documentation
• Reviewing code and suggesting improvements
• Creating commits and pull requests
• Building application prototypes from natural language

Depending on the workflow, these tasks can be performed directly inside the IDE or autonomously in GitHub repositories.

Better Results Through Context

GitHub Copilot becomes significantly more effective when it understands your project. By using repository context, documentation, coding standards, issues, pull requests, and external tools, it can generate more accurate and relevant solutions that fit your existing codebase.

Best Practices

To get the best results, provide clear objectives, supply sufficient context, and always review generated changes before accepting them. Think of GitHub Copilot as a collaborative teammate that accelerates development while leaving architecture, security, and business decisions to the developer.

AI development agents represent the next step in GitHub Copilot's evolution, enabling developers to spend less time on repetitive coding and more time designing, solving problems, and delivering high-quality software.

Starting a new repository should be simple—but sometimes GitLab surprises you with errors when pushing your first branch. One common issue happens when trying to create a protected branch (like dev) directly from a local repository. The result? A rejected push and a confusing message.

Here’s the key idea:
GitLab does not allow protected branches to be created “from nothing.”
They must be based on a branch or commit that already exists on the server.

Many developers used to start like this:

git checkout -b dev
git commit -m "Initial commit" --allow-empty
git push -u origin dev

This worked before, but now GitLab blocks it if dev is protected. The problem is not the empty commit—it’s that the branch has no existing base on the remote.

The correct approach is to create a base branch first:

git checkout -b main
git commit -m "Initial commit" --allow-empty
git push -u origin main

git checkout -b dev
git push -u origin dev

Now dev is created from an existing branch (main), and GitLab accepts it.

Alternative solutions:

• Temporarily remove protection on dev
• Create the first branch using the GitLab UI

Takeaway:
Always create at least one branch on the remote before pushing protected branches. This small change avoids errors and keeps your workflow smooth.

Code highlighting improves readability and helps readers understand examples faster. When using TinyMCE together with Highlight.js, many developers notice that JavaScript highlighting works, but JSON or plain text does not. This problem is common—and luckily easy to fix once you know where to look.

The first step is using the correct language identifiers in TinyMCE. The values defined in codesample_languages must match the language names that Highlight.js understands. JavaScript works because it is included by default, but JSON and plain text need special attention.

TinyMCE configuration

codesample_languages: [
  { text: 'Plain Text', value: 'plaintext' },
  { text: 'JSON', value: 'json' },
  { text: 'JavaScript', value: 'javascript' }
]

Next, make sure Highlight.js actually loads the required languages. Some builds do not include JSON or plain text automatically, so they must be added manually.

Highlight.js setup

<link rel="stylesheet"
  href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/highlight.js/11.5.1/styles/vs.min.css">

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/highlight.js/11.5.1/highlight.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/highlight.js/11.5.1/languages/json.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/highlight.js/11.5.1/languages/plaintext.min.js"></script>

<script>
  hljs.highlightAll();
</script>

Finally, remember that TinyMCE content is often added dynamically. Highlight.js only runs once by default, so new code blocks must be highlighted again after rendering.

Re-run highlighting

document.querySelectorAll('pre code')
  .forEach(el => hljs.highlightElement(el));

With the correct language values, loaded modules, and proper initialization, JSON and plain text code blocks will highlight reliably and look consistent across your site.

Sometimes one color palette just isn’t enough. Text colors usually need to be dark and readable, while highlight colors should be soft and subtle. By default, TinyMCE uses the same color palette for both—but with a small customization, you can fully separate them.

By replacing the built-in color buttons with custom toolbar buttons, you gain complete control over which colors are available for text and which are used for background highlights. This approach is ideal for platforms that care about accessibility, readability, and consistent visual design.

What this approach enables:

• Dark, high-contrast colors for text
• Soft, low-saturation colors for highlights
• Full control over labels, order, and UX
• Clear separation of purpose for each color picker

How it works:
You register two custom menu buttons—one for text color and one for background color—and apply styles manually using editor commands.

tinymce.init({
  selector: '#editor',
  toolbar: 'textcolorpicker highlightpicker',
  setup: (editor) => {

    editor.ui.registry.addMenuButton('textcolorpicker', {
      text: 'Text Color',
      fetch: (callback) => {
        callback([
          { type: 'choiceitem', text: 'Black', value: '#000000' },
          { type: 'choiceitem', text: 'Blue', value: '#2563EB' },
          { type: 'choiceitem', text: 'Red', value: '#DC2626' }
        ]);
      },
      onItemAction: (api, value) => {
        editor.execCommand('ForeColor', false, value);
      }
    });

    editor.ui.registry.addMenuButton('highlightpicker', {
      text: 'Highlight',
      fetch: (callback) => {
        callback([
          { type: 'choiceitem', text: 'Yellow', value: '#FEF08A' },
          { type: 'choiceitem', text: 'Light Blue', value: '#DBEAFE' },
          { type: 'choiceitem', text: 'Light Green', value: '#DCFCE7' }
        ]);
      },
      onItemAction: (api, value) => {
        editor.execCommand('HiliteColor', false, value);
      }
    });

  }
});

When to use this approach:

• Shared or public content feeds
• Editorial or knowledge platforms
• Accessibility-focused designs
• Strict brand or design systems

Why it’s worth it:
Although this requires a bit more setup, it’s currently the only reliable way to enforce different color rules for text and highlights in TinyMCE—without confusing users or sacrificing flexibility.

iving users unlimited color options can quickly lead to inconsistent or hard-to-read content. TinyMCE allows you to define a custom color palette, so users stay within visual guidelines while still having creative freedom.

This is especially useful for platforms with shared feeds, collaborative writing, or brand-focused content.

Benefits of a custom color palette:

• Consistent visual style
• Better readability
• Alignment with brand colors
• Fewer design mistakes

How to define custom colors:
Use color_map to control which colors appear in the picker.

tinymce.init({
  selector: '#editor',
  plugins: 'lists link code',
  toolbar: 'undo redo | bold italic underline | forecolor backcolor | code',

  color_map: [
    '000000', 'Black',
    'FFFFFF', 'White',
    '1E293B', 'Dark Blue',
    '2563EB', 'Primary Blue',
    '16A34A', 'Green',
    'F59E0B', 'Orange',
    'DC2626', 'Red'
  ],

  color_cols: 4
});

Users will now see only these predefined colors, making content look more cohesive across the platform.

When to use this approach:

• Shared or public content feeds
• Brand-driven platforms
• Editorial or knowledge-based sites

Want to give users more visual control over their content without extra complexity? TinyMCE already includes built-in tools for changing text color and background (highlight) color—you just need to enable them.

These tools are ideal for short articles, notes, or mini-blogs where users want to emphasize key ideas or improve readability.

What this enables:

• Text color selection
• Background highlight color
• A user-friendly color picker UI
• No custom plugins or UI needed

How to enable it:
Add forecolor and backcolor to the toolbar configuration.

tinymce.init({
  selector: '#editor',
  plugins: 'lists link code',
  toolbar: 'undo redo | bold italic underline | forecolor backcolor | code'
});

That’s all. TinyMCE automatically provides a color picker that works well for beginners and advanced users alike.

Why this works well:

• Quick to implement
• Low maintenance
• Improves content clarity and expression

Images created with rich-text editors like TinyMCE often include width and height attributes. These values are useful because they describe how the image should appear. However, many layouts use global CSS rules like width: 100%, which silently override those attributes. The result is stretched images or broken proportions.

A better approach is to let both systems work together:

• If an image has a defined width, respect it.
• If it does not, make it responsive.
• Always keep the original aspect ratio.

The key idea is simple. CSS should only force full width on images that do not define their own size. At the same time, height should never be fixed. Let the browser calculate it automatically.

This approach is safe, predictable, and works well for content feeds, articles, and mixed image sizes.

Example HTML

<div class="content">
  <img src="example-a.png" alt="">
  <img src="example-b.png" alt="" width="300" height="300">
</div>

Example CSS

.content img {
  display: block;
  max-width: 100%;
  height: auto;          /* keeps the aspect ratio */
}

.content img:not([width]) {
  width: 100%;           /* only full-width if no width is defined */
}

Why this works

• Images with width and height keep their intended size
• Images without dimensions become responsive
• height: auto preserves the natural aspect ratio
• No cropping or distortion occurs

Avoid using object-fit: cover for normal content images, as it may cut off important parts. This solution keeps layouts clean, readable, and friendly for all screen sizes.

Before using a custom dimension, it helps to know what keys actually exist in your data.

View Raw Custom Dimensions

Start by inspecting a few records:

traces
| take 5
| project customDimensions

This shows the full dynamic object so you can see available keys and example values.

List All Keys Found in the Data

traces
| summarize by tostring(bag_keys(customDimensions))

This returns a list of keys across your dataset.

Correct Way to Access a Key

tostring(customDimensions["UserId"])

Avoid this pattern — it does not work:

customDimensions.UserId

Tips

• Key names are case-sensitive.
• Some records may not contain the same keys.
• Always test with a small sample before building complex queries.

These discovery steps prevent mistakes and make your queries more reliable from the start.

Once a custom dimension is extracted, you can filter and analyze it like any normal column.

Filter by Text Value

requests
| where tostring(customDimensions["Region"]) == "EU"

This keeps only rows where the Region custom dimension matches the value.

Filter by Numeric Value

If the value represents a number, convert it first:

requests
| extend DurationMs = todouble(customDimensions["DurationMs"])
| where DurationMs > 1000

Reuse Extracted Values

Using extend lets you reuse the value multiple times:

traces
| extend UserId = tostring(customDimensions["UserId"])
| where UserId != ""
| summarize Count = count() by UserId

Tips

• Use extend when the value appears more than once in your query.
• Always convert to the correct type before filtering.
• Avoid comparing raw dynamic values directly.

These patterns help you build fast, readable queries that work reliably across dashboards and alerts.

Selecting a custom dimension means extracting a value from the dynamic field and showing it as a normal column.

Basic Example

If your logs contain a custom dimension called UserId, use this query:

traces
| project
    timestamp,
    message,
    UserId = tostring(customDimensions["UserId"])

What this does:

• Reads the value using square brackets.
• Converts it to a string.
• Creates a new column named UserId.

You can select multiple custom dimensions in the same query:

requests
| project
    timestamp,
    name,
    Region  = tostring(customDimensions["Region"]),
    OrderId = tostring(customDimensions["OrderId"])

Tips

• Always use tostring() unless you know the value is numeric or boolean.
• Rename the extracted value to keep your results readable.
• Use project to control exactly what columns appear in the output.

This pattern is ideal for building reports or exporting data because it turns hidden metadata into visible columns that anyone can understand.

When working with software versions like 1.0.2 or 3.45.12-SNAPSHOT, it's common to use regular expressions (regex) to validate or extract these patterns. This Snipp shows you a simple and effective way to match such version numbers using regex.

What We Want to Match:

• 1.0.2
• 3.32.34
• 3.45.12-SNAPSHOT

These are typical semantic version numbers and may optionally include a suffix like -SNAPSHOT.

The Regex:

^\d+\.\d+\.\d+(?:-SNAPSHOT)?$

How It Works:

• ^ — Start of the string
• \d+ — One or more digits (major, minor, patch)
• \. — Dots separating version parts
• (?:-SNAPSHOT)? — Optional suffix (non-capturing group)
• $ — End of the string

Matches:

• ✔️ 1.0.2
• ✔️3.32.34
• ✔️3.45.12-SNAPSHOT

Not Matched:

• ❌ 1.0
• ❌3.2.4-RELEASE
• ❌a.b.c

This pattern is useful when validating software version inputs in forms, logs, or build scripts.

Open source software (OSS) has evolved from a niche hobby to the backbone of mission-critical systems—from cloud infrastructure to AI platforms and government services. Today, embracing OSS isn’t optional; it’s a strategic choice offering several key benefits:

• Speed & Flexibility: Without vendor lock-in or license fees, teams can rapidly prototype, customize tools to fit needs, and iterate freely.
• Security & Quality: Public scrutiny by global communities accelerates bug fixes, security patches, and code improvements .
• Innovation & Talent: Companies contributing to or releasing OSS (like TensorFlow or React) boost their brand, attract skilled developers, and tap into shared advances.
• Interoperability & Scalability: Open standards and modular licensing prevent lock-in and ease future platform changes .

However, businesses must also navigate challenges: support isn’t automatic (so consider vendor-backed services), choose active and well-governed projects, and understand licensing implications before adoption .

By forging smart open source strategies—engaging with communities, investing in support, and contributing back—companies can accelerate growth, control costs, and stay ahead in an evolving digital landscape.

Original link: https://towardsdatascience.com/why-open-source-is-no-longer-optional-and-how-to-make-it-work-for-your-business/

Keeping your HTML tidy is crucial for clean code and better website performance. HTML Cleaner is a free, browser-based tool that helps you remove unwanted tags, inline styles, and messy formatting from your HTML code. It's especially useful when copying content from sources like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, which often include extra markup that clutters your code.

You can paste your HTML, adjust cleaning options (like stripping tags or converting special characters), and instantly get a clean, simplified output. It's fast, easy to use, and doesn't require installation or sign-up — making it ideal for developers, bloggers, and content creators.

Try it here: https://www.innateblogger.com/p/html-cleaner.html

Looking to start coding this year? Travis from Travis Media shares eight essential principles to set you up for success:

• Set a clear goal and timeline: Know what you’re aiming for—whether landing your first job or launching a project—and give yourself deadlines to stay motivated.
• Focus on fundamentals, not trends: Learn core concepts (like data structures, algorithms, debugging) before chasing the latest shiny frameworks.
• Build real projects: Apply what you learn by creating small apps, contributing to open-source, or freelancing to develop practical skills and a portfolio.
• Balance breadth and depth: Start broad to discover what you like, then go deep in one area (web, mobile, data, etc.) to stand out.
• Find a community: Join forums, Discord groups or local meetups for support, feedback, and valuable connections.
• Practice consistently: Daily or weekly coding beats binge sessions—small, steady progress is more effective.
• Embrace failure and feedback: Treat bugs and critiques as learning opportunities, not setbacks.
• Maintain long-term focus: Stay curious, keep learning, and plan for ongoing development beyond your first project or job.

These rules are concise, practical, and beginner‑friendly—packed with insight for anyone starting a coding journey today.

HTML6 Editor | Online Live WYSIWYG HTML Editor

This code removes HTML text nodes that have no non-whitespace content.

foreach (var node in document.DocumentNode
    .DescendantsAndSelf()
    .Where(n => n.NodeType == HtmlNodeType.Text && 
        string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(n.InnerText)).ToList())
{
    node.Remove();
}

DescendantsAndSelf() will include the root node in the search, which may be necessary depending on the requirements.
ToList() to create a separate list for removal, avoiding issues with modifying the collection while iterating

{
    "glossary": {
        "title": "example glossary",
		"GlossDiv": {
            "title": "S",
			"GlossList": {
                "GlossEntry": {
                    "ID": "SGML",
					"SortAs": "SGML",
					"GlossTerm": "Standard Generalized Markup Language",
					"Acronym": "SGML",
					"Abbrev": "ISO 8879:1986",
					"GlossDef": {
                        "para": "A meta-markup language, used to create markup languages such as DocBook.",
						"GlossSeeAlso": ["GML", "XML"]
                    },
					"GlossSee": "markup"
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Customers can now deterministically restrict their workflows to run on a specific set of runners using the names of their runner groups in the runs-on key of their workflow YAML. This prevents the unintended case where your job runs on a runner outside your intended group because the unintended runner shared the same labels as the runners in your intended runner group.
Example of the new syntax to ensure a runner is targeted from your intended runner group:

runs-on:
  group: my-group
  labels: [ self-hosted, label-1 ]

In addition to the workflow file syntax changes, there are also new validation checks for runner groups at the organization level. Organizations will no longer be able to create runner groups using a name that already exists at the enterprise level. A warning banner will display for any existing duplicate runner groups at the organization level. There's no restriction on the creation of runner groups at the enterprise level.
This feature change applies to enterprise plan customers as only enterprise plan customers are able to create runner groups.

Source: GitHub Actions: Restrict workflows to specific runners using runner group names

C# String.StartsWith() method determines whether this string instance starts with the specified character or string.

String.StartsWith(ch)
String.StartsWith(str)
String.StartsWith(str, ignoreCase, culture)
String.StartsWith(str, comparisonType)

• String.StartsWith Method (System) | Microsoft Learn

The JSON-LD Playground is a web-based JSON-LD viewer and debugger. If you are interested in learning JSON-LD, this tool will be of great help to you. Developers may also use the tool to debug, visualize, and share their JSON-LD markup.

JSON-LD Playground

Introduction

• Microsoft Dev Box documentation | Microsoft Docs

Build developer environments fast with Microsoft Dev Box

JSON Viewer - Free Tool to View and Edit JSON Code Online (jsononline.net)

JSON Parser - Convert JSON to Strings Online (jsononline.net)

Best JSON Viewer and JSON Beautifier Online (codebeautify.org)

JSON Parser Online to parse JSON (jsonformatter.org)

Online JSON Viewer (stack.hu)

JSON Viewer - JSON Formatter and JSON Validator Online

Some webpages use Unicode characters to display some text as bold. Copying will keep this format, even if you try to just paste it as plain text.

So the following script will convert from "MATHEMATICAL BOLD CAPITAL" to "LATIN CAPITAL LETTER".

So, for example, the bold letter "A" would be "f0 9d 90 80" as UTF-8. Looking at the Unicode/UTF-8-character table - snippet, we can translate this to Unicode "U+1D400". We then use the ConvertFromUtf32 method to get this as the old value in the Replace method and just the letter "A" as the new value. 

public static string ConvertBold(string input)
{
    var output = input.Replace(char.ConvertFromUtf32(0x1D5D4), "A");
    output = input.Replace(char.ConvertFromUtf32(0x1D5D5), "B");
    // ...

    output = output.Replace(char.ConvertFromUtf32(0x1D5EE), "a");
    output = output.Replace(char.ConvertFromUtf32(0x1D5EF), "b");
    // ...

    return output;
}