vscode

(upbeat music)

Hi everyone!
I'm Ornella from the
Visual Studio Code team.
Today, I'll walk you through
how to get started using
Visual Studio Code.
VS Code is a lightweight but
powerful source code editor
that runs on your desktop computer.
Let's get started.

The first thing we're going
to do is download VS Code
by going to code.visualstudio.com.

I'm using a Mac,
so I'm going to download the Mac version
but you can grab the Windows
and Linux versions here, too.

The next thing we'll do is open VS Code.

Once it opens up, you'll
see our welcome screen.
From here, you can open a
folder or create a new file.
Let's create a new file now.
I'm going to use Python
and type "hello world"
but you can use whatever
programming language
you're comfortable with.
Go to File, Save, to save the file
with the right file type extension,
in this case .py for Python
and watch the colors of the code change.

As you continue to use VS Code,
your recent folders will
show up as shortcuts here
under Recent.
Let's take a tour of the interface.
At the bottom of the
screen is the status bar
where you'll find helpful information
such as current line number,
programming language,
and errors and warnings.
On the left-hand side of the screen,
we have the activity bar.
Starting at the top of the activity bar,
you'll see: 1) the File Explorer
where you'll find your
current files and folders,
2) Search where you can
search across your files,
3) Source Control where
you can track changes
and see different versions
of your code files,
4) Run View, where you can
run and debug your code,
and 5) the Extensions
View where you can manage
and download extensions
for almost anything.

In the center we have the Command Palette,
which is the control center
for all of the actions here in VS Code.
Every single action you can do in VS Code
is mapped to a command
and the Command Palette.
If you ever need a refresher
on where things are,
you can select the
Interface Overview button
under Learn to see the
parts of the interface
overlaid on top.

Next, let's check out how to make VS Code
the best editor for you.
The first thing you'll
want to do in VS Code
is install the correct extension
for the programming
language you want to use.
VS Code comes with support
built in for some languages
but to have the absolute best experience,
you'll want to install the extensions
for the language you want to
use, like C++, Python, or Java.
It's free and literally
takes a push of a button.
Let's install the Python extension now.

Extensions are an awesome tool
that provide extra
support while you code -
like auto-complete, quick
fixes and formatting.
However, they don't always
include other components you need
like compilers, which turn your code
into code that your computer
can execute and run.
For more information about
how to set up VS Code
for your desired language,
check out our video about extensions.

We know that some of you
have used other code editors in the past,
and we want to make it
as convenient as possible
for you to use any keyboard shortcuts
that you're used to in VS Code.
If you're not familiar
with keyboard shortcuts,
they are keys or combinations of keys
that allow you to do something
you typically do with a mouse
like creating a new file.
This button will take you
to the extension category
for key maps in the marketplace,
where you'll find the extensions
that will install the keyboard
shortcuts from other editors.
If you want to learn more
about the keyboard shortcuts in VS Code,
you can use the Command Palette
to open keyboard shortcuts.

Or click on the Printable Keyboard Sheet
under the Help section
on the Welcome page.
Another thing you can customize
here is your color theme
which lets you choose the
colors used in VS Code.
We want to make coding fun
so we made it easy
for you to pick the theme
that you love the most.
Select Color Theme to see
a list of installed themes
and notice that when you
change your selection,
we'll show you a preview of the theme.
If you're looking for a special theme
that you don't see here,
you can find it in the marketplace.

We mentioned the Command Palette earlier
but if you ever forget
where to find all of
the commands in VS Code,
you can select Find and
Run All Commands here.
There's one last thing I want to show you.
If you're interested in
learning about VS Code's
useful editing features,
select the Interactive Playground.
Here, you'll find examples
of some of our core editor features
like Multi-Cursor Editing.
You can click into the Interactive Panel
to see multiple cursors in
action and try it out yourself.

Check out our other videos
to learn more about VS Code.
If you have any issues,
please let us know by
opening an issue on GitHub.
That's all for now.
Happy coding!
(upbeat music)