GitHub Copilot and Copilot Chat excel at modernizing applications by acting as an AI pair programmer. By analyzing the context of the code a developer is writing, Copilot can suggest completions and entire code blocks that utilize modern programming patterns, current library APIs, and efficient language features. For instance, it can suggest converting a traditional loop into a more concise and readable stream or list comprehension, or recommend using async/await for asynchronous operations. This incremental assistance helps developers refactor and update legacy code with current best practices, which is a core activity in application modernization.

A. Full architectural conversion from legacy to cloud-native is a complex, strategic process involving system redesign, not just code generation, which is beyond Copilot's capabilities.

C. Copilot assists with code generation but does not handle the end-to-end process of creating, integrating, and deploying a full-stack application from a single prompt.

D. Copilot is trained on a vast corpus of existing public code; it cannot predict or implement "upcoming" standards that are not yet established or present in its training data.

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1. Microsoft Learn

"Introduction to GitHub Copilot" Module. This module explains that GitHub Copilot provides suggestions based on the context of the file you're editing. It states

"GitHub Copilot is trained on all languages that appear in public repositories

" which includes modern patterns and idioms that it then suggests to the user. This supports the idea of suggesting modern patterns based on existing code.

Source: Microsoft Learn

"Introduction to GitHub Copilot"

Unit 1: "What is GitHub Copilot?".

2. Official GitHub Documentation

"Using GitHub Copilot Chat in your IDE". This document details how developers can use Copilot Chat to refactor code. A developer can highlight a block of legacy code and ask Copilot to "refactor this to use modern JavaScript async/await syntax" or "make this more idiomatic." This directly aligns with modernizing applications by suggesting and applying modern patterns.

Source: GitHub Docs

"Using GitHub Copilot Chat in your IDE"

Section: "Asking for help with your code".

3. Official GitHub Documentation

"Getting started with GitHub Copilot". The documentation describes Copilot as an "AI pair programmer that helps you write code faster and with less work." Its primary function is to "suggest code to you directly in your editor

" which includes suggesting more modern alternatives to the code you are currently writing

thereby aiding in modernization.

Source: GitHub Docs

"About GitHub Copilot Individual"

Section: "About GitHub Copilot".