Tutorial: Get started with Visual Studio Code

In this tutorial, you learn about the key features of Visual Studio Code to help you get started with coding quickly. You learn about the different components of the user interface and how to customize it to your liking. You then write some code and use the built-in code editing features, such as IntelliSense and Code Actions, and you learn about running and debugging your code. By installing a language extension, you add support for a different programming language.

Prerequisites

• Download and install Visual Studio Code on your computer

Open a folder in VS Code

You can use VS Code to work on individual files to make quick edits, or you can open a folder, also known as a workspace.

Let's start by creating a folder and opening it in VS Code. You'll use this folder throughout the tutorial.

1. Open Visual Studio Code.

   When you first open VS Code, you should see the Welcome page with different actions to get started.

2. Select File > Open Folder... from the menu to open a folder.

   

3. Select New Folder, create a new folder named vscode101, and then select Select Folder (Open on macOS).

   The folder you create is the root of your workspace.

4. On the Workspace Trust dialog, select Yes, I trust the authors to enable all features in the workspace.

   

   Because you created the folder on your computer, you can trust the code in the folder.

   Important

   Workspace Trust lets you decide whether code in your project folder can be executed by VS Code. When you download code from the internet, you should first review it to make sure it's safe to run. Get more info about Workspace Trust.

5. You should now see the Explorer view on the left, showing the name of the folder.

   You'll use the Explorer view to view and manage the files and folders in your workspace.

Explore the user interface

Now that you have a folder open in VS Code, let's take a quick tour of the user interface.

Switch between views with the Activity Bar

1. Use the Activity Bar to switch between different views.

   

   Tip

   Hover over the Activity Bar to see the name of each view and the corresponding keyboard shortcut. You can toggle a view open and closed by selecting the view again or pressing the keyboard shortcut.

2. When you select a view in the Activity Bar, the Primary Side Bar opens to show view-specific information.

   For example, the Run and Debug view enables you to configure and start debugging sessions.

   

View and edit files with the Editor

1. Select the Explorer view in the Activity Bar, and select the New File... button to create a new file in your workspace.

   

2. Enter the name index.html and press Enter.

   A file is added to your workspace and an Editor opens in the main area of the window.

   

3. Start typing some HTML code in the index.html file.

   As you type, you should see suggestions popping up that help you complete your code (IntelliSense). You can use the Up and Down keys to navigate the suggestions, and Tab to insert the selected suggestion.

4. Add more files to your workspace and notice that each file opens a new Editor tab.

   You can open as many editors as you like and view them side by side vertically or horizontally. Learn more about side by side editing.

   

Access the terminal from the Panel area

1. VS Code has an integrated terminal. Open it by pressing ⌃` (Windows, Linux Ctrl+`).

   You can choose between different shells, such as PowerShell, Command Prompt, or Bash, depending on your operating system configuration.

   

2. In the terminal, enter the following command to create a new file in your workspace.

   echo "Hello, VS Code" > greetings.txt
   

   The default working folder is the root of your workspace. Notice that the Explorer view automatically picks up and shows the new file.

   

3. You can open multiple terminals simultaneously. Select the Launch Profile dropdown to view the available shells and choose one.

   

Access commands with the Command Palette

1. Open the Command Palette by pressing ⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P). You can also use the View > Command Palette... menu item.

   Many of the commands in VS Code are available through the Command Palette. When you install extensions, they can also add commands to the Command Palette.

   

   Tip

   Notice that the Command Palette shows the default keyboard shortcut for commands that have one. You can use the keyboard shortcut to run the command directly.

2. The Command Palette supports different modes of operation:

   1. After the > symbol, start typing to filter the command list. For example, type move terminal to find commands to move the terminal to a new window.

      

   2. Remove the > character and start typing to search for files in your workspace. You can use the ⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+P) keyboard shortcut to open the Command Palette and start searching for files directly.

      

Configure VS Code settings

You can customize almost every part of VS Code by configuring settings. You can use the Settings Editor to modify the settings in VS Code or directly modify the settings.json file.

1. Press ⌘, (Windows, Linux Ctrl+,) to open the Settings Editor (or select the File > Preferences > Settings menu item).

   

   Tip

   Use the search box to filter the list of settings that are shown.

2. By default, VS Code doesn't automatically save modified files. Select a value from the Auto Save dropdown to change this behavior.

   

   VS Code automatically applies changes to settings. When you modify a file in your workspace, it should now be automatically saved.

3. To revert a setting to its default value, select the gear icon next to the setting and select Reset Setting.

   

   Tip

   You can quickly find all modified settings by typing @modified in the search box or selecting the Modified filter.

4. You can use the tabs in the Settings Editor to switch between User settings and Workspace settings.

   User settings apply across all your workspaces. Workspace settings only apply to the current workspace. Workspace settings override user settings. Get more information about settings in VS Code.

Write some code

VS Code has built-in support for JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, and more. In this tutorial, you create a sample JavaScript file and use some of the code editing features that VS Code offers.

VS Code supports many programming languages and in a next step, you'll install a language extension to add support for a different language, namely Python.

1. In the Explorer view, create a new file app.js, and start typing the following JavaScript code:

   function sayHello(name) {
     console.log('Hello, ' + name);
   }
   
   sayHello('VS Code');
   

   As you type, you should see suggestions popping up that help you complete your code (IntelliSense). You can use the Up and Down keys to navigate the suggestions, and Tab to insert the selected suggestion.

   Notice also the formatting of the code (syntax highlighting), to help you distinguish between different parts of the code.

   

2. When you put the cursor on the string Hello,, you should see a lightbulb icon appear to indicate there's a Code Action.

   You can also use the ⌃Space (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Space) keyboard shortcut to open the lightbulb menu.

3. Select the lightbulb icon, and then select Convert to template string.

   

   Code Actions are suggestions to apply quick fixes to your code. In this case, the Code Action converts ""Hello, " + name into a template string `Hello, ${name}`, which is a special JavaScript construct to embed expressions in strings.

Learn more about code editing features, IntelliSense, code navigation, and refactoring in VS Code.

Use source control

Visual Studio Code has integrated source control management (SCM) and includes Git support out-of-the-box.

Let's use the built-in Git support to commit the changes you've made previously.

1. Select the Source Control view in the Activity Bar to open the Source Control view.

   

2. Make sure you have Git installed on your computer. If you don't have Git installed, you'll see a button in the Source Control view to install it on your machine.

3. Select Initialize Repository to create a new Git repository for your workspace.

   

   After you initialize a repository, the Source Control view shows the changes you've made in your workspace.

4. You can stage individual changes by hovering over a file and selecting + next to a file.

   

   Tip

   To stage all changes, hover over Changes and select the Stage All Changes button.

5. Enter a commit message, for example Add hello function, and then select the Commit to commit the changes to your Git repository.

   

   Tip

   You can use the Source Control Graph to show a visual representation of the commit history of your Git repository.

There's a lot more to discover about source control in VS Code. Get more info about source control in VS Code.

Install a language extension

VS Code has a rich ecosystem of extensions that let you add languages, debuggers, and tools to your installation to support your specific development workflow. There are thousands of extensions available in the Visual Studio Marketplace.

Let's install a language extension to add support for Python, or any other programming language you are interested in.

1. Select the Extensions view in the Activity Bar.

   The Extensions view enables you to browse and install extensions from within VS Code.

   

2. Enter Python in the Extension view search box to browse for Python-related extensions. Select the Python extension published by Microsoft, and then select the Install button.

   

3. Now, create a new Python file hello.py in your workspace, and start typing the following Python code:

   def say_hello(name):
       print("Hello, " + name)
   
   say_hello("VS Code")
   

   Notice that you now also get suggestions and IntelliSense for the Python code.

   

Run and debug your code

VS Code has built-in support for running and debugging Node.js applications. In this tutorial, you use the Python extension you installed in the previous step to debug a Python program.

Let's debug the hello.py program that you created in the previous step.

1. Make sure that Python 3 is installed on your computer.

   If there's no Python interpreter installed on your computer, you'll see a notification in the lower right corner of the window. Select Select Interpreter to open the Command Palette and select the Python interpreter you want to use or install one.

2. In the hello.py file, place the cursor on the print line and press F9 to set a breakpoint.

   A red dot appears in the left margin of the editor, indicating that a breakpoint is set. With a breakpoint, you can pause the execution of your program at a specific line of code.

   

3. Press F5 to start a debugging session.

   1. Select the Python debugger:

      

   2. Choose to run the current Python file:

      

4. Notice that the program starts and that the execution stops at the breakpoint you set.

   

   Tip

   Inspect the value of the name variable by hovering over it in the editor while the execution is paused. You can view the value of variables at any time in the Variables view in the Run and Debug view.

5. Press the Continue button in the Debug toolbar or press F5 to continue the execution.

   

There are many more debugging features in VS Code, such as watch variables, conditional breakpoints, and launch configurations. Dive into the details of debugging in VS Code.

Enhance your coding with AI and GitHub Copilot

With GitHub Copilot, you can further enhance your coding experience in VS Code and even discover VS Code features and settings you didn't know about.

GitHub Copilot in VS Code can help you with a wide range of tasks, such as:

• Code completion: Get suggestions for lines of code or entire functions.
• Explain code: Get explanations for code snippets to help you understand what they do.
• Code refactoring & generation: Refactor your code and generate code-related artifacts like tests or documentation.
• Fix errors: Get help with common coding tasks like finding and fixing bugs, or errors with shell commands.
• Learn about VS Code: Ask about VS Code features, settings, or commands.

Install the GitHub Copilot extension

Next steps

Congratulations! You've completed the tutorial and explored some of the key features of Visual Studio Code. Now that you've learned the basics of Visual Studio Code, get more info about how to:

• Discover and run unit tests for your code

• Use the integrated terminal

• Set up a remote development environment