Modernize Legacy Code with GitHub Copilot

Legacy code isn’t always broken—but it’s often hard to read, maintain, or extend. Whether you're working with outdated patterns, older libraries, or just messy functions, GitHub Copilot can help you update and simplify your code, one suggestion at a time. Let’s break it down!

Use Copilot to Suggest Cleaner, More Modern Versions of Outdated Code
Copilot can refactor legacy code into modern standards—whether you’re moving from callbacks to async/await, cleaning up nested logic, or removing unused code.

Here’s how to do it:
1️⃣ Copilot Chat: Ask for Modernization Help
# Update this function to use async/await instead of callbacks

2️⃣ Copilot Edit: Inline Refactor Requests
Highlight a block of legacy code and add a comment like:
# Refactor this to use modern Python practices

Then trigger Copilot Edit to generate an improved version.
3️⃣ Chat Follow-up: Library or API Updates
# Rewrite this to use the latest version of the fetch API and remove deprecated methods

Perfect for keeping your code current with evolving standards.
Extra Prompts to Try:
• # Clean up this loop using modern JavaScript
• # Remove unused variables and simplify logic
• # Rewrite this component using React Hooks
• # Update this SQL query using modern JOIN syntax

Quick Takeaway
Legacy code doesn’t need to stay stuck in the past. Let Copilot help you upgrade it without rewriting everything from scratch.