Configure VS code to use Python, R and C/C++

Mon, Apr 6, 2020

Configure Visual Studio code to use familiar softwares

• such as Python, R and C/C++
• More details can be found https://code.visualstudio.com/

Configure VS code to use Python

• Prerequisites

  • VS Code
  • VS Code Python extension
  • Python 3

• Install the Python Extension

  • install the Python extension for VS Code from the Visual Studio Marketplace. The Python extension is named Python and it’s published by Microsoft.

• Install a Python interpreter

  • Suppose you already had installed Python 3

• Start VS Code in a project (workspace) folder

  • Using a command prompt or terminal, create an empty folder called “hello”, navigate into it, and open VS Code (code) in that folder (.) by entering the following commands:

    mkdir hello
    cd hello
    code .
    

• Create a Python Hello World source code file

  • From the File Explorer toolbar, select the New File button on the hello folder
  • Name the file hello.py, and it automatically opens in the editor
  • Now that you have a code file in your Workspace, enter the following source code in hello.py:

  data = [('SUFE','Shanghai University of Finance and Economics','8000'),('MSU','Michigan State University','30000'),('NWU','Northwestern University','9000')]
  tmp1 = []
  tmp2 = []
  for i in range(3):
      tmp1.append(data[i][0])
      tmp2.append(data[i][2])
  
  d = dict(zip(tmp1,tmp2))
  print(d)
  

• Run the codes

  • It’s simple to run hello.py with Python. Just click the Run Python File in Terminal play button in the top-right side of the editor.
  • There are three other ways you can run Python code within VS Code:
    • Right-click anywhere in the editor window and select Run Python File in Terminal (which saves the file automatically)
    • Select one or more lines, then press Shift+Enter or right-click and select Run Selection/Line in Python Terminal. This command is convenient for testing just a part of a file.
    • From the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), select the Python: Start REPL command to open a REPL terminal for the currently selected Python interpreter. In the REPL, you can then enter and run lines of code one at a time.

• More details can be found HERE

Configure VS code to use C/C++

• Prerequisites

  • VS code installed the C/C++ extension.
  • Mingw-w64, and add the path to your Mingw-w64 bin folder to the Windows PATH environment variable

• Create first project

  • create an empty folder called projects where you can place all your VS Code projects.
  • open VS Code in that folder by entering the following commands:

  mkdir projects
  code .
  

  -The “code .” command opens VS Code in the current working folder, which becomes your “workspace”.

• Add a source code file

  • select the New File button and name the file helloworld.c.
  • Copy and paste in this source code:

  // Collatz Problem
  #include<stdio.h>
  int chainLen(int n){
      int len=1;
      while(n>1){
          if(n%2) n=3*n+1;
          else n=n/2;
          len++;
      }
      return len;
  }
  
  int main(){
      int n;
      printf("Input a natural number n = ");
      scanf("%d",&n);
      printf("The length of chain is %d\n",chainLen(n));
      return 0;
  }
  

• Build helloworld.c

  • Next, you will create a tasks.json file to tell VS Code how to build (compile) the program. This task will invoke the g++ compiler to create an executable file based on the source code.
  • From the main menu, choose Terminal > Configure Default Build Task.
  • Choose g++.exe build active file, which will build the file that is currently displayed (active) in the editor.

• Running the build

  • Go back to helloworld.c. Your task builds the active file and you want to build helloworld.c.

  • To run the build task defined in tasks.json, press Ctrl+Shift+B or from the Terminal main menu choose Tasks: Run Build Task.

  • Create a new terminal using the + button and you’ll have a new terminal (running PowerShell) with the helloworld folder as the working directory. Run dir and you should now see the executable helloworld.exe.

  • You can run helloworld in the terminal by typing .\helloworld.exe.

• Start a debugging session

  • Go back to helloworld.c so that it is the active file.
  • Press F5 or from the main menu choose Run > Start Debugging.

• More details can be found HERE.

Configure VS code to use R

• Using a command prompt or terminal, create an empty folder called “hello”, navigate into it, and open VS Code (code) in that folder (.) by entering the following commands:

  mkdir hello
  cd hello
  code .
  

• Create a R “Hello World” source code file.
  • From the File Explorer toolbar, select the New File button on the hello folder.
  • Name the file hello.r, and it automatically opens in the editor.

  msg = "Hello world!"
  print(msg)
  

  • It’s simple to run hello.r with R. Just click the Run Source in Terminal play button in the top-right side of the editor, or press Ctrl+Shift+S.

---

Homepage

• go back to