Issue #127  (File Auto Save Settings)09/25/24

For some time now, VS Code has included features for 'auto saving' your work, should you choose to enable it. Auto Save is off by default but you can enable it using the Files: Auto Save setting, which has a few different values, not just "on" and "off".
 
You can set it to auto save onFocusChange, which auto saves the file when it loses focus (i.e. you switch to another editor or tab). There's also the option to auto save onWindowChange, which saves when the window loses focus. This latter option will save all changed open files, but only when the window loses focus. This could be a focus change to another VS Code window or any window in your OS.

There's also an option to auto save afterDelay. This setting works in tandem with the Files: Auto Save Delay setting.
 
The value you enter in milliseconds will determine how long the editor should wait before saving the file when changes are made.

Finally, there are two new auto-save related settings that were added to VS Code earlier this year. These are Files: Auto Save When No Errors and Files: Auto Save Workspace Files Only.
   
These new settings allow you to avoid having files saved that contain errors. This can be helpful if you don't want your external tools that might be 'watching' your files to act on an error-laden file while you're still working on it. The other setting limits the auto save setting to files in the open workspace.

One final setting is on by default, which is Files > Refactoring: Auto Save, which ensures files that are part of a refactoring are automatically saved, but you can turn that off if you prefer not to have this happen automatically.

Now on to this week's hand-picked links!
 

VS Code Tools

Hover Preview — A simple VS Code extension for previewing on hover what the specified HTML element will look like in the browser.

Meco — Free your newsletters from the inbox. Move your newsletters to a space built for reading and declutter your inbox in seconds.    Sponsor 

EchoAPI for VS Code — A lightweight VS Code Rest API client extension focused on building simple, pure API debugging, testing, and documentation tools (see also tutorial link below).

Emoji Console Log — A VS Code extension that inserts a console.log() statement with a random emoji and a variable (object, function, etc.) under your cursor to make debugging JavaScript and TypeScript code easier.

VS Code Articles & Videos

📺 Introduction to Blockman - Visual Helper Extension for VS Code — A video interview with the author of the Blockman extension where he demonstrates its use and how it can help with focus in your codebase.

Navigating macOS and VSCode with Emacs+Vim Key Bindings — If you've switched from Linux to Mac, like the author has, you may benefit from the keybindings and other tips for being just as productive.

The Morning Paper for Tech — Want a byte-sized version of Hacker News that takes just a few minutes to read? Try TLDR's free daily newsletter. It covers the most interesting tech, startup, and programming stories in just 5 minutes. No sports and no politics.  Sponsor 

EchoAPI for VS Code: A Lightweight Alternative to Postman & Thunder Client — A tutorial and comparison article based on the extension linked above, showing how it stacks up to the slow and cluttered Postman and the paywalled Thunderclient.

Best of the Rest

Python-Fiddle — A web platform to write, run, and share Python code directly from the web browser without the need to install and maintain Python and Python packages on your computer.

Cursor — An AI code editor with powerful autocomplete, code generation, multi-line editing, AI-powered chat, and lots more.

Meco — Free your newsletters from the inbox. Move your newsletters to a space built for reading and declutter your inbox in seconds.   Sponsor 

Leaving Neovim for Zed — One developer's journey through text editors and how he landed on Zed after years of Neovim.

Suggestions?

If you have any link suggestions, including a tool, article, or other resources related to VS Code or another IDE, send it via DM on X: @LouisLazaris or just hit reply on this email.

That's it for this issue.

Happy VS Coding!
Louis
VSCode.Email
@LouisLazaris