There isn’t much support for Python in Microsoft new code editor Visual Studio Code (VSCode), but there is a neat way to run your Python code right inside VSCode. It’s a feature called tasks and while the examples give are for compiling code, you can pretty much just run any program against the code you are editing in VSCode.
Visual Studio Code Python Tutorial
Tasks
So let’s dive in and set-up a task that runs the traditional 'Hello World!' program within VSCode. In Python this is print 'Hello World!'
.
The simplest way to begin debugging a Python file is to use the Run view and click the Run and Debug button. When no configuration has been previously set, you will be presented with a list of debugging options. Select the appropriate option to quickly begin debugging your code. You could install the Python extension for Visual Studio Code from the Visual Studio Code market place. Once done, use the 'Python Console' debug option to run and debug your Python code. This will launch the terminal/command window allowing you to capture input, and you wouldn't need to configure the tasks.json file for this. In the text editor: right-click anywhere in the editor and select Run Python File in Terminal.
First go and open up VSCode on an empty folder via the menu steps File -> Open Folder
. The do Ctrl+Shift+P
, then Configure Task
and press Enter
. This will create a folder called .settings
and a file called tasks.json
where you will configure your task. Comment out the first example task and put the following Python task at the top of the file and save it.
To run the task you can simply do Ctrl+Shift+B
, as you’ve only defined one task for this folder. If you put another task at the top of the settings file then that task will be run. If you need to select a task do Ctrl+Shift+P
, type Run Tasks
, select python
and press Enter
.
You can find out more about tasks in VSCode here.
Result
Download winrar for mac os x 10.7. The result of all this is that you now can run a python script and have the output displayed next to the code, as shown below.
I’ve only played with VSCode for a little while, but it seems solid and friendly. Hopefully support for more languages will be coming soon, but at least you can run any compiler or interpreter against your code using tasks.
Working with Python in Visual Studio Code, using the Microsoft Python extension, is simple, fun, and productive. The extension makes VS Code an excellent Python editor, and works on any operating system with a variety of Python interpreters. It leverages all of VS Code's power to provide auto complete and IntelliSense, linting, debugging, and unit testing, along with the ability to easily switch between Python environments, including virtual and conda environments.
This article provides only an overview of the different capabilities of the Python extension for VS Code. For a walkthrough of editing, running, and debugging code, use the button below.
Install Python and the Python extension
The tutorial guides you through installing Python and using the extension. You must install a Python interpreter yourself separately from the extension. For a quick install, use Python 3.7 from python.org and install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
Once you have a version of Python installed, activate it using the Python: Select Interpreter command. If VS Code doesn't automatically locate the interpreter you're looking for, refer to Environments - Manually specify an interpreter.
You can configure the Python extension through settings. See the Settings reference.
Insiders program
The Insiders program allows you to try out and automatically install new versions of the Python extension prior to release, including new features and fixes.
If you'd like to opt into the program, you can either open the Command Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P)) and select Python: Switch to Insiders Daily/Weekly Channel or else you can open settings (⌘, (Windows, Linux Ctrl+,)) and look for Python: Insiders Channel to set the channel to 'daily' or 'weekly'.
Run Python code
To experience Python, create a file (using the File Explorer) named hello.py
and paste in the following code (assuming Python 3):
The Python extension then provides shortcuts to run Python code in the currently selected interpreter (Python: Select Interpreter in the Command Palette):
- In the text editor: right-click anywhere in the editor and select Run Python File in Terminal. If invoked on a selection, only that selection is run.
- In Explorer: right-click a Python file and select Run Python File in Terminal.
You can also use the Terminal: Create New Integrated Terminal command to create a terminal in which VS Code automatically activates the currently selected interpreter. How to download rome total war for mac. See Environments below. The Python: Start REPL activates a terminal with the currently selected interpreter and then runs the Python REPL.
For a more specific walkthrough on running code, see the tutorial.
Autocomplete and IntelliSense
The Python extension supports code completion and IntelliSense using the currently selected interpreter. IntelliSense is a general term for a number of features, including intelligent code completion (in-context method and variable suggestions) across all your files and for built-in and third-party modules.
IntelliSense quickly shows methods, class members, and documentation as you type, and you can trigger completions at any time with ⌃Space (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Space). You can also hover over identifiers for more information about them.
Tip: Check out the IntelliCode extension for VS Code (preview). IntelliCode provides a set of AI-assisted capabilities for IntelliSense in Python, such as inferring the most relevant auto-completions based on the current code context.
Linting
Linting analyzes your Python code for potential errors, making it easy to navigate to and correct different problems.
The Python extension can apply a number of different linters including Pylint, pycodestyle, Flake8, mypy, pydocstyle, prospector, and pylama. See Linting.
Debugging
No more print
statement debugging! Set breakpoints, inspect data, and use the debug console as you run your program step by step. Debug a number of different types of Python applications, including multi-threaded, web, and remote applications.
For Python-specific details, including setting up your launch.json
configuration and remote debugging, see Debugging. General VS Code debugging information is found in the debugging document. The Django and Flask tutorials also demonstrate debugging in the context of those web apps, including debugging Django page templates.
Environments
The Python extension automatically detects Python interpreters that are installed in standard locations. It also detects conda environments as well as virtual environments in the workspace folder. See Configuring Python environments. You can also use the python.pythonPath
setting to point to an interpreter anywhere on your computer.
The current environment is shown on the left side of the VS Code Status Bar:
The Status Bar also indicates if no interpreter is selected:
The selected environment is used for IntelliSense, auto-completions, linting, formatting, and any other language-related feature other than debugging. It is also activated when you use run Python in a terminal.
To change the current interpreter, which includes switching to conda or virtual environments, select the interpreter name on the Status Bar or use the Python: Select Interpreter command.
VS Code prompts you with a list of detected environments as well as any you've added manually to your user settings (see Configuring Python environments).
Installing packages
Packages are installed using the Terminal panel and commands like pip install <package_name>
(Windows) and pip3 install <package_name>
(macOS/Linux). VS Code installs that package into your project along with its dependencies. Examples are given in the Python tutorial as well as the Django and Flask tutorials.
Jupyter notebooks
If you open a Jupyter notebook file (.ipynb
) in VS Code, you can use the Jupyter Notebook Editor to directly view, modify, and run code cells.
You can also convert and open the notebook as a Python code file. The notebook's cells are delimited in the Python file with #%%
comments, and the Python extension shows Run Cell or Run All Cells CodeLens. Selecting either CodeLens starts the Jupyter server and runs the cell(s) in the Python interactive window:
Opening a notebook as a Python file allows you to use all of VS Code's debugging capabilities. You can then save the notebook file and open it again as a notebook in the Notebook Editor, Jupyter, or even upload it to a service like Azure Notebooks.
Using either method, Notebook Editor or a Python file, you can also connect to a remote Jupyter server for running the code. For more information, see Jupyter support.
Testing
The Python extension supports testing with the unittest, pytest, and nose test frameworks.
Visual Studio Code Run Python Script
To run tests, you enable one of the frameworks in settings. Each framework also has specific settings, such as arguments that identify paths and patterns for test discovery.
Once discovered, VS Code provides a variety of commands (on the Status Bar, the Command Palette, and elsewhere) to run and debug tests, including the ability to run individual test files and individual methods.
Configuration
The Python extension provides a wide variety of settings for its various features. These are described on their relevant topics, such as Editing code, Linting, Debugging, and Testing. The complete list is found in the Settings reference.
Other popular Python extensions
The Microsoft Python extension provides all of the features described previously in this article. Additional Python language support can be added to VS Code by installing other popular Python extensions.
- Open the Extensions view (⇧⌘X (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+X)).
- Filter the extension list by typing 'python'.
Visual Studio Code Run Python
The extensions shown above are dynamically queried. Click on an extension tile above to read the description and reviews to decide which extension is best for you. See more in the Marketplace.
Visual Studio Code How To Run Python
Next steps
- Python Hello World tutorial - Get started with Python in VS Code.
- Editing Python - Learn about auto-completion, formatting, and refactoring for Python.
- Basic Editing - Learn about the powerful VS Code editor.
- Code Navigation - Move quickly through your source code.