Let's talk about one of the new AI-powered chatboxes that have been recently released.
You do need to request an invitation to try out the new Bing chatbox so go out there and request an invitation!! Go to the Bing homepage and the Chat tab to get on the list. You will also be asked to use the chatbox using Microsoft Edge rather than other browsers, just as a heads up. I got the email to experience the new AI-powered copilot on Bing so I can actually share screenshots and ask my own questions. Of course, the first thing I ask is how to write some code and it looks pretty darn good!
Here is a preview of the "look and feel" of the new chatbox. I do like how there are examples given and you can choose the conversation style.
Right now, I'm working in an Azure Portal cloud instance and I'm considering using the built in Configuration App capabilities to allow dynamic injection and feature flags into the code without having to change the code once pushed. An example would be if I needed to change a zipcode limitation for a region, I want to be able to have that list of zipcodes in a place that's accessible outside the code that I and other coworkers could get to if we needed it updated ASAP.
So, to save myself time finding the correct connections to my C# console app, I asked copilot:
Write code to connect to azure configuration app using C#
Here's the conversation we had:
Do I know if this result is correct?? Nope, I sure don't!! But I will use the code as a starting point to begin my connection to my Azure instance. I will add a new post once I've got the code in and working and see if the code listed is correct or if it needs some tweaks.
Code blocks in case this code helps someone else!
using Azure.Data.AppConfiguration;
// Create a clientvar client = new ConfigurationClient(connectionString);
// Get a setting
ConfigurationSetting setting = client.GetConfigurationSetting(new ConfigurationSetting("key", "label"));
// Update a setting
setting.Value = "new value";
client.SetConfigurationSetting(setting);
using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration;
public static IHostBuilder CreateHostBuilder(string[] args) =>
Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
.ConfigureAppConfiguration((hostingContext, config) =>
{
var settings = config.Build();
config.AddAzureAppConfiguration(options =>
{
options.Connect(settings["ConnectionStrings:AppConfig"])
.ConfigureRefresh(refresh =>
{
refresh.Register("TestApp:Settings:Sentinel", refreshAll: true)
.SetCacheExpiration(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5));
});
});
})
.ConfigureWebHostDefaults(webBuilder =>
{
webBuilder.UseStartup<Startup>();
});Here are some additional resources and articles I read that give some great info on the new copilot and what you can do with it!!
Article on Copilot and what it can do:
Copilot Chat will be added to Visual Studio in an upcoming version:
Article explaining the ways Copilot will be able to enhance using Microsoft 365:
Happy coding!!