Course Length
2 days or 4 half days
Course Overview
AI-powered coding tools such as GitHub Copilot are rapidly transforming how software is designed, implemented, and maintained. This course teaches participants how to move beyond simple prompt-based coding and adopt a systematic, agentic approach that improves productivity without sacrificing quality, governance, or maintainability.
Participants will learn how to use Copilot's advanced chat and agent modes without or with spec-kit to implement “vibe coding” and Specification-Driven Development (SDD) respectively. SDD's structured methodology spans the whole software development life cycle (SDLC) and ensures that software development remains aligned with business intent, technical constraints, and long-term sustainability. The course combines conceptual foundations with extensive hands-on exercises, enabling participants to immediately apply these techniques to real-world projects.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- • Understand the differences between the various modes in Copilot Chat
- • Understand the concepts of MCP servers and tools, and configure and use them in Copilot
- • Create new applications and modify existing ones consisting of multiple files
- • Use Copilot to create and run unit and integration tests
- • Generate documentation for applications based on source code and user prompts
- • Use Copilot for source control tasks
- • Understand the limitations of “vibe-coding” and the need for a more structured methodology which spans the whole software development life cycle (SDLC)
- • Understand the main principles, advantages and disadvantages of Specification-Driven Development (SDD)
- • Explain the meaning and importance of SDD steps
- • Use SDD in greenfield projects
- • Use SDD in brownfield projects
Main Topics
GitHub Copilot and Agentic Coding
- Copilot Chat modes: Ask, Edit, Plan, and Agent
- Configuring and using MCP tools and toolsets
- Using Copilot to create and modify multi-file applications
- Using Copilot to create and run unit and integration tests
- Using Copilot for documentation
- Using Copilot for source control
- Configuring and using asynchronous background and cloud-based coding agents
Specification-Driven Development (SDD)
- Limitations of “vibe coding” and the need for a more structured methodology which spans the whole software development life cycle (SDLC)
- What is Specification-Driven Development (SDD)?
- Installation and basic configuration of spec-kit
- SDD workflow:
- Constitution
- Specification
- Planning
- Task breakdown
- Implementation
- Applying SDD in greenfield projects
- Applying SDD in brownfield projects
Structure
Roughly 50% lecture, 50% hands on lab exercises. The lab exercises are executables with Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, C# or C/C++.
Target Audience
Software developers and testers as well as their technical managers who want to understand and use GitHub Copilot and spec-kit in agentic coding and specification-driven software development.
Prerequisites
Experience with VSCode or similar IDEs, experience in using ChatGPT or similar chatbots, basic knowledge of the programming language used during lab exercises.
Course Modules
Module: GitHub Copilot and Agentic Coding
- Copilot Chat modes: Ask, Edit, Plan, and Agent
- Configuring and using MCP tools and toolsets
- Using Copilot to create and modify multi-file applications
- Using Copilot to create and run unit and integration tests
- Using Copilot for documentation
- Using Copilot for source control
- Configuring and using asynchronous background and cloud-based coding agents
Module: Specification-Driven Development (SDD)
- Limitations of “vibe coding” and the need for a structured methodology spanning the SDLC
- What is Specification-Driven Development (SDD)?
- Installation and basic configuration of spec-kit
- SDD workflow covering Constitution, Specification, Planning, Task breakdown, and Implementation
- Applying SDD in greenfield projects
- Applying SDD in brownfield projects
Part of the ComponentSoft AI Portfolio
This training is part of the AI portfolio of Component Soft which explores essential AI topics, such as:
- • AI-101: Intro to GenAI with Large Language Model (LLMs) and LLM-based apps.
- • AI-141: Using GitHub Copilot as coding assistant
- • AI-161: Using Amazon Q as coding assistant
- • AI-242: Using GitHub Copilot and spec-kit for agentic coding and spec-driven development (SDD)
- • AI-262: Using Amazon Kiro for agentic coding and spec-driven development (SDD)
- • AI-434: GenAI Application Development with LLMs
- • AI-452: Agentic AI Application Development with LLMs