3 Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)
An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a software that bundles together tools convenient for software development. This course uses Visual Studio Code as an IDE, which is a popular free and open-source software provided by Microsoft.
3.1 Why use an IDE?
There are several benefits to using an IDE compared to using a text editor like Notepad:
- Designed for easy code writing, with several shortcuts
- Syntax highlighting for more readable code
- Automatic code completion
- Integrated terminal
- Integrated LLM chat and code completion
- Highly customizable with extensions
3.2 Install Visual Studio Code
Install Visual Studio Code (VSCode) according to their official instructions.
You may stumble upon a software called Visual Studio, which is different than Visual Studio Code.
3.3 Getting Started
VS Code provides excellent documentation. Please refer to their getting started guide for a basic introduction.
3.4 Visual Studio Code Extensions
This course uses the Python extension for VS Code. Extensions can be installed from within VS Code. Refer to VS Code’s documentation for guidance.
3.5 Opening Projects
VS Code can be used in different ways. This course uses a common workflow of opening VS Code from the root directory of a project folder. Alternatively, open a project folder via “Open Folder” from within VS Code.
3.6 Selecting Python Interpreters
VS Code should automatically detect virtual environments located in the root project directory.
Otherwise, there’s an option of manually selecting which Python Interpreter VS Code uses. Access it via the Command Palette (CTRL + SHIFT + P) and typing “Python: Select Interpreter”.
VS Code uses the selected interpreter for running scripts, as well as for other features like auto completion.