AI-Powered Dev Tools
This domain tests your ability to identify, compare, and correctly apply AI coding assistants and related workflows in a software development context. It covers specific tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex), VS Code extensions, and practical use cases including testing, code review, documentation, context strategies, and security risks. At 18% of the exam, this is one of the heavier domains — expect 10–14 questions depending on total exam length. Questions focus on distinguishing tool capabilities, knowing correct workflows, and recognizing misuse patterns.
GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot is an AI pair programmer developed by GitHub (Microsoft) and powered by OpenAI models. It integrates directly into IDEs and offers multiple interaction surfaces.
Core Features
| Feature | Description | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| In-IDE completion | Ghost-text suggestions as you type; Tab to accept, Esc to reject | All paid tiers |
| Copilot Chat | Conversational AI panel inside VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio | Copilot Individual, Business, Enterprise |
| Copilot CLI | AI-assisted shell commands via gh copilot suggest and gh copilot explain | Requires gh CLI + Copilot subscription |
| Copilot Workspace | Task-to-PR workflow (preview feature) | Enterprise/preview |
| Copilot for Pull Requests | AI-generated PR descriptions, review summaries | Business and Enterprise |
Accepting and Rejecting Suggestions
- Tab — accepts the full suggestion
- Alt+] / Alt+[ — cycle through alternative suggestions
- Ctrl+→ — accept next word only (partial accept)
- Esc — dismiss suggestion
- Suggestions are non-destructive: rejecting has no penalty and generates no feedback to the model by default
Tiers
| Tier | Price (approx.) | Key Limits/Differences |
|---|---|---|
| Free (limited) | $0 | 2,000 completions/month, 50 chat messages/month |
| Individual | $10/month | Unlimited completions, unlimited chat |
| Business | $19/user/month | Org policy controls, no training on code, audit logs |
| Enterprise | $39/user/month | Fine-tuning on private repos, Copilot Workspace, Bing search in chat |
Common Traps
- The exam may describe "a developer wants to accept only the first word of a suggestion" — the answer is Ctrl+→ (partial accept), not Tab.
- Copilot CLI is separate from in-IDE Copilot — it requires the
ghCLI tool installed independently. - The Business tier disables training on your code by default; the Individual tier does not offer this guarantee by default (opt-out required).
- Copilot Chat is not available on the Free tier at full capacity — know the monthly limits.
Worked Scenario
Requirement: A company needs GitHub Copilot but must ensure that code from their private repositories is never used to train the model. Reasoning: Individual tier requires manual opt-out; Business or Enterprise tier has this disabled by default with admin enforcement. Correct answer: Copilot Business (minimum tier that enforces this organizationally).
Cursor
Cursor is an AI-first code editor forked from VS Code. Unlike Copilot (a plugin), Cursor is a standalone editor with AI deeply integrated at the application level.
Key Features
| Feature | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Inline edit (Cmd+K) | Cmd+K (Mac) / Ctrl+K (Win) | Opens an inline prompt bar; edits the selected code in place |
| Composer | Cmd+Shift+I | Multi-file AI editing; plans and applies changes across multiple files simultaneously |
| Chat | Cmd+L | Sidebar chat with codebase context |
| Codebase indexing | Automatic | Cursor indexes your repo so you can ask questions about your entire codebase |
| @ mentions | @file, @doc, @web | Explicitly inject files, documentation, or web search into context |
Cursor vs. GitHub Copilot
| Dimension | Cursor | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Standalone editor (VS Code fork) | IDE plugin/extension |
| Multi-file edits | Yes — Composer | No (single-file completions only) |
| Codebase indexing | Built-in, automatic | Limited (workspace context in chat) |
| Inline edit trigger | Cmd+K | Not a direct equivalent |
| Model choice | GPT-4o, Claude 3.5, etc. (user-selectable) | GitHub-controlled (GPT-4o based) |
| Price | Free tier; Pro $20/month | Separate subscription |
Common Traps
- Cmd+K is inline edit, not chat. The exam may describe "editing selected code without leaving the editor" — answer is Cmd+K, not Cmd+L.
- Composer is for multi-file changes — if a question describes "AI that plans changes across multiple files," Composer is the correct Cursor answer.
- Cursor is not a plugin — students confuse it with a VS Code extension. It is a separate application.
- Cursor supports multiple underlying models (you can switch to Claude, GPT-4o, etc.); Copilot does not let you select the model.
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