GitHub looks back at 2024: AI, new tools, and 150 million developers

GitHub has recapped its most-read posts of 2024, a year that saw the platform cross 150 million developers and AI move deeper into everyday workflows. The posts offer a snapshot of what shipped in the past twelve months, from expanded model choice in Copilot to security automations and new hosted runner options.

OpenAI and Anthropic models come to Copilot

One of the year's through-lines was GitHub broadening the range of large language models (LLMs) developers could use with Copilot. OpenAI's o1 family landed in the assistant, with support for o1, o1-preview, and o1-mini. Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Google's Gemini 1.5 Pro also became available across Copilot's interfaces and features.

Alongside those additions, Copilot in VS Code — including model access — is now free for developers.

Platform launches that made the list

Several product releases drew attention this year:

  • GitHub Models: AI models are now accessible through a built-in playground for testing prompts and parameters. Once you're satisfied with results, those models can be loaded into GitHub Codespaces and VS Code for building.
  • Copilot Extensions: This partner-driven ecosystem extends Copilot to third-party tools and services without leaving the IDE or the GitHub website. Developers can also build their own extensions.
  • Copilot Enterprise: Now generally available, this tier aims Copilot at an organization's own codebase and knowledge across the entire development lifecycle.
  • Copilot Workspace: A Copilot-native environment designed to take developers from idea to software using natural language. Sign-ups are open on a waitlist.
  • Copilot Autofix: Security fixes are now faster, with support for security campaigns that tackle vulnerabilities at scale and reduce accumulated security debt.
  • Arm64 on GitHub Actions: New hosted runners based on Arm hardware promise faster builds, improved performance, and better sustainability for Actions jobs.

The learning track from 2024

GitHub also used its top blogs to push developer education, especially around Git and AI-assisted work.

Git fundamentals

  • A beginner's guide covers version control from the ground up for new developers.
  • Developers can also review the top 12 Git commands that come up most often in daily work.
  • Once skills are sharpened, GitHub Certifications provide a way to mark the milestone; they're now generally available.

AI-assisted development

  • A behind-the-scenes look explains how AI code generation works internally.
  • Practical guidance covers more efficient use of Copilot in an IDE, from shortcuts to best practices.
  • Unexpected use cases show Copilot beyond typical coding workflows.
  • AI coding tools are also framed as a path to learning an unfamiliar programming language.

Octoverse highlights: Python overtakes JavaScript

The Octoverse report saw data science and machine learning drive major shifts on the platform in 2024. Python became GitHub's most popular language, surpassing JavaScript for the first time, while Jupyter Notebooks usage climbed sharply. The full report shows which projects drew the most new contributors and how developer trends shifted during the year.