Visual Studio Code – Free Source Code Editor by Microsoft

What is Visual Studio Code?

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a free, open-source code editor developed by Microsoft that has rapidly become the most popular development environment worldwide. Launched in 2015, VS Code combines the simplicity of a source code editor with powerful developer tools, making it suitable for everything from quick edits to full-featured development.

Built on the Electron framework, VS Code runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing a consistent experience across platforms while supporting hundreds of programming languages through its extensive extension marketplace.

Key Features

• IntelliSense: Smart code completion based on variable types, function definitions, and imported modules
• Built-in debugger: Debug code directly from the editor with breakpoints, call stacks, and interactive console
• Integrated Git: Review diffs, stage files, and make commits without leaving the editor
• Extensions marketplace: Thousands of extensions for languages, themes, and tools
• Integrated terminal: Full-featured terminal embedded in the editor
• Remote development: Work on remote servers, containers, or WSL
• Live Share: Real-time collaborative editing and debugging
• Customizable: Themes, keyboard shortcuts, and settings sync

System Requirements

• Windows: Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
• macOS: macOS 10.15+ (Catalina or later)
• Linux: Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL, Fedora, SUSE (64-bit)
• Minimum 1GB RAM, 4GB recommended
• 500MB disk space

Installation Guide

Ubuntu/Debian

# Download and install Microsoft GPG key
wget -qO- https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > packages.microsoft.gpg
sudo install -D -o root -g root -m 644 packages.microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg

# Add VS Code repository
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64,arm64,armhf signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list'

# Install VS Code
sudo apt update
sudo apt install code

Fedora/RHEL

sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
sudo sh -c 'echo -e "[code]\nname=Visual Studio Code\nbaseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/vscode\nenabled=1\ngpgcheck=1\ngpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc" > /etc/yum.repos.d/vscode.repo'
sudo dnf install code

Snap Package

sudo snap install code --classic

Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Must-Have Extensions

• GitLens: Supercharge Git capabilities
• Prettier: Code formatter
• ESLint: JavaScript linting
• Python: Python language support
• Docker: Container management
• Remote – SSH: Remote development
• Live Server: Local development server
• Thunder Client: REST API testing
• GitHub Copilot: AI pair programmer
• Material Icon Theme: Beautiful file icons

Settings Configuration

// settings.json example
{
    "editor.fontSize": 14,
    "editor.fontFamily": "Fira Code, monospace",
    "editor.fontLigatures": true,
    "editor.tabSize": 2,
    "editor.formatOnSave": true,
    "editor.minimap.enabled": false,
    "editor.wordWrap": "on",
    "files.autoSave": "afterDelay",
    "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 13,
    "workbench.colorTheme": "One Dark Pro",
    "git.autofetch": true
}

Remote Development

VS Code supports remote development scenarios:

• Remote – SSH: Connect to remote machines via SSH
• Remote – Containers: Develop inside Docker containers
• Remote – WSL: Use Windows Subsystem for Linux
• GitHub Codespaces: Cloud-hosted development environments

Debugging Configuration

// launch.json for Node.js
{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "node",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "Launch Program",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/app.js",
            "skipFiles": ["/**"]
        }
    ]
}

VSCodium Alternative

For users who prefer a version without Microsoft telemetry, VSCodium provides the same features with a fully open-source build.

Download

Visual Studio Code is available free for personal and commercial use:

Download VS Code

Latest Version: 1.85
License: MIT (source code)
Developer: Microsoft