Boost it all with VS Code for Life
It is more than likely you are a geek if you are reading this. That is good — Visual Studio Code can help you even more than you think. If you are not into it yet, this article is just for you!
Tired of online tools? Me too. Like, before you get to what you need, you need to confirm the cookies, sign up, cancel the newsletter, skip through the tutorial of the BEST TOOL EVER, and more. The saddest part is to get to the publish/export button, which requires you to pay for what you have just been doing. It does not have to be like that. There is a place and time for online tools, but Visual Studio Code makes them more irrelevant than you think.
Motivation
- Need to count words or characters without opening MS Word? Check.
- Need to preview any text-based file with nice color formatting? Check.
- Need to jumpstart a new programming language journey, or are you just lazy reinstalling programs and “right IDEs” after OS install? Check & stay tuned!
Use Cases
Below, I list my favourite things to use it for. Feel free to inspire me further in the comments. I absolutely love how modular it is. There is an extension for almost everything you can think of.
Master the (VS) Code
If you want to remember a few keyboard shortcuts, they are definitely these:
- Ctrl+F for searching the current file.
- Ctrl+Shift+F for searching all the files in the open directory.
- Ctrl+P for searching all the file names in the open directory. It is perfect as a file search tool. It does not necessarily have to be a project directory.
- Ctrl+Shift+P is a very powerful shortcut. It basically lets you control the behavior of VS Code. For example, you can master long JSON files by enabling “View: Toggle Word Wrap” functionality.
- Much more is left for you to explore!
Have stunning icons (for project files)
In case you are working on a project, there are probably a lot of files. For example, if you are coding in Angular and TypeScript, all the .ts files will have the same icon. With many items, it may be hard to distinguish all the different files. By using the Material Icon Theme, you can easily see what is a component, what is a module, what is a service, and much more. The more you use it, the better it feels.
No more typos (in your code)
Use Code Spell Checker. Also, localizations are available if you write comments or text files in your native language. To enable it, press Ctrl+Shift+P, search for “Spell: Enable Spell Checking” and confirm it.
No more (manual code) formatting
Code formatters, like Prettier, enable you to have nice and organized code with almost no effort. You also receive suggestions following the given code style.
Be a (git) master
In addition to the command line interface, Git Graph is just great! You can easily see all the branches and other git stuff. After installing it, you will see a clickable Git Graph button on the left side of the bottom bar.
Another perfect git tool is GitLens, which enables you to see the authors of the code on the given line. It is a great addition to the built-in git support.
Be in (character) limit
For example, if you have a limited number of characters available to write your answer, you can always check if you are doing well in VS Code. With the file opened, select a portion of text and look in the bottom bar. You will see something like Ln 4, Col 13 (42 selected), where the text in the brackets tells you the answer.
Master (basically) anything
As you may have noticed, I mentioned a lot of tools and extensions — that is the point! Whenever you need anything, search for it using the Extensions button in the right bar. For example, by doing so, I set up the Python IDE I know and love in just a few clicks. Good luck.
Pro tip: If you ever need anything, it is very likely VS Code will offer you a plugin the moment you try to open (yet) unknown file type.
Final note
If you have reached this point in the article, here is the VS Code for you. Enjoy it while doing everyday tasks.
