Visual Studio Code

What is Visual Studio Code?

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a lightweight but powerful source code editor which runs on your desktop and is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. It comes with built-in support for JavaScript, TypeScript and Node.js and has a rich ecosystem of extensions for other languages and runtimes.

// Example VS Code settings.json configuration
{
  "editor.fontSize": 14,
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "editor.insertSpaces": true,
  "editor.wordWrap": "on",
  "editor.minimap.enabled": true,
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
    "source.fixAll.eslint": true
  },
  "workbench.colorTheme": "Dark+ (default dark)",
  "workbench.iconTheme": "vs-seti",
  "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 12,
  "files.autoSave": "afterDelay",
  "files.autoSaveDelay": 1000,
  "extensions.autoUpdate": true,
  "git.enableSmartCommit": true,
  "emmet.includeLanguages": {
    "javascript": "javascriptreact"
  }
}

// Example tasks.json for build automation
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "build",
      "type": "npm",
      "script": "build",
      "group": {
        "kind": "build",
        "isDefault": true
      }
    }
  ]
}
                

Key Features

• IntelliSense: Smart code completion, parameter info, and member lists
• Debugging: Built-in debugging support for Node.js and other runtimes
• Git Integration: Built-in Git commands and version control
• Extensions: Thousands of extensions for languages, themes, and tools
• Integrated Terminal: Built-in command line interface
• Multi-cursor Editing: Edit multiple lines simultaneously
• Live Share: Real-time collaborative development
• Remote Development: Work with code in containers, remote machines, or WSL

Popular Extensions

• Prettier: Code formatter for consistent styling
• ESLint: JavaScript linting and error detection
• GitLens: Enhanced Git capabilities and blame annotations
• Live Server: Local development server with live reload
• Bracket Pair Colorizer: Colorize matching brackets
• Auto Rename Tag: Automatically rename paired HTML/XML tags
• Thunder Client: REST API client for testing APIs

Career Impact

Learning Path

1. Download and install VS Code
2. Learn basic navigation and shortcuts
3. Configure settings and preferences
4. Install essential extensions
5. Master debugging features
6. Explore advanced features and customization