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Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a lightweight yet powerful source code editor developed by Microsoft. It provides excellent support for various programming languages, extensions, and development workflows, making it one of the most popular code editors among developers worldwide.

Key Features

Integrated Terminal

VS Code includes a built-in integrated terminal that allows you to run commands directly within the editor. You can access it through: - View → Terminal from the menu - Ctrl+` (backtick) keyboard shortcut - Ctrl+Shift+P and search for "Terminal"

The integrated terminal supports multiple terminal instances and can be configured to use different shells (bash, PowerShell, Command Prompt, etc.).

JSON-based Settings Configuration

VS Code settings can be configured through a user-friendly interface or directly via JSON files. This provides flexibility for advanced users who prefer fine-grained control:

  • User Settings: Global settings that apply to all VS Code instances
  • Workspace Settings: Project-specific settings that override user settings
  • Settings JSON: Direct JSON configuration accessible via Ctrl+Shift+P → "Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)"

Example settings configuration: 

{
  "editor.fontSize": 14,
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "files.autoSave": "afterDelay",
  "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "powershell.exe"
}

Dev Containers Support

VS Code handles development containers through the dedicated Dev Containers extension (previously called Remote-Containers). This extension enables you to:

  • Use a Docker container as a full-featured development environment
  • Open any folder or repository inside a container
  • Take advantage of consistent development environments across team members
  • Isolate development dependencies from your local machine

The extension automatically detects .devcontainer/devcontainer.json configuration files and provides seamless integration with Docker containers, making it easy to maintain reproducible development environments.

Dev Container Features

The Dev Containers extension supports a wide variety of pre-configured development environments and features. You can find the complete list of available features and configurations at the Dev Container Features page.

Popular dev container features include: - Language runtimes (Node.js, Python, Java, Go, etc.) - Development tools (Git, Docker, kubectl, Terraform) - Database clients and servers (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB) - Cloud CLI tools (AWS CLI, Azure CLI, Google Cloud CLI)