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16.1   Programming Environment Installation

16.1.1   Installing Ide

We recommend using the open-source and lightweight VS Code as the local integrated development environment (IDE). Visit the VS Code official website, and download and install the appropriate version of VS Code according to your operating system.

Download VS Code from the Official Website

Figure 16-1   Download VS Code from the Official Website

VS Code has a powerful ecosystem of extensions that supports running and debugging most programming languages. For example, after installing the "Python Extension Pack" extension, you can debug Python code. The installation steps are shown in the following figure.

Install VS Code Extensions

Figure 16-2   Install VS Code Extensions

16.1.2   Installing Language Environments

1.   Python Environment

  1. Download and install Miniconda3, which requires Python 3.10 or newer.
  2. Search for python in the VS Code extension marketplace and install the Python Extension Pack.
  3. (Optional) Enter pip install black on the command line to install the code formatter.

2.   C/c++ Environment

  1. Windows systems need to install MinGW (configuration tutorial); macOS comes with Clang built-in and does not require installation.
  2. Search for c++ in the VS Code extension marketplace and install the C/C++ Extension Pack.
  3. (Optional) Open the Settings page, search for the Clang_format_fallback Style code formatting option, and set it to { BasedOnStyle: Microsoft, BreakBeforeBraces: Attach }.

3.   Java Environment

  1. Download and install OpenJDK (version must be > JDK 9).
  2. Search for java in the VS Code extension marketplace and install the Extension Pack for Java.

4.   C# Environment

  1. Download and install .Net 8.0.
  2. Search for C# Dev Kit in the VS Code extension marketplace and install C# Dev Kit (configuration tutorial).
  3. You can also use Visual Studio (installation tutorial).

5.   Go Environment

  1. Download and install Go.
  2. Search for go in the VS Code extension marketplace and install Go.
  3. Press Ctrl + Shift + P to open the command palette, type go, select Go: Install/Update Tools, check all options and install.

6.   Swift Environment

  1. Download and install Swift.
  2. Search for swift in the VS Code extension marketplace and install Swift for Visual Studio Code.

7.   Javascript Environment

  1. Download and install Node.js.
  2. (Optional) Search for Prettier in the VS Code extension marketplace and install the code formatter.

8.   Typescript Environment

  1. Follow the same installation steps as the JavaScript environment.
  2. Install TypeScript Execute (tsx).
  3. Search for typescript in the VS Code extension marketplace and install Pretty TypeScript Errors.

9.   Dart Environment

  1. Download and install Dart.
  2. Search for dart in the VS Code extension marketplace and install Dart.

10.   Rust Environment

  1. Download and install Rust.
  2. Search for rust in the VS Code extension marketplace and install rust-analyzer.
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