Issue #19  (Useful Keyboard Shortcuts)08/31/22

There are a number of different keyboard shortcuts that are good to know when navigating files and file contents in VS Code. And naturally, many of these same shortcuts are used in other IDEs and editors too. I'm sure many of you more experienced VS Code users will be familiar with most of these, but for those just getting started, maybe this will help you navigate your files and folders faster.

You might commonly use the explorer view with your mouse to select a particular file in the currently open project. But in some cases, especially if files are inside multiple nested folders, it's easier to use CTRL-P, which opens the "Go to File..." box (similar to the command palette, but without the ">" in the box).
 
From there, you can start typing the name of the file you want to access and VS Code will show you a list that also includes recently opened files (which appear by default even before you start searching).

You can also conduct a symbol search inside a file by hitting CTRL-SHIFT-O. This opens the "Go to Symbol in Editor..." box. This time the @ character in the box indicates that you're doing a symbol search. Here you can search for functions, objects, variables, etc., within the current file.
 
You can start typing the name of the function or other object to take you directly to that part of the file.

Similar to navigating multiple tabs in a browser, you can easily switch between currently open files by using CTRL-TAB. This opens a rotating file view where you can cycle through and choose the file you want to focus on.
 
This can help when you have multiple files open. Similarly, you can use ALT-LEFT and ALT-RIGHT (or OPT-LEFT/RIGHT on Mac) to navigate directly to the next file over without opening the list of currently open files.

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

VS Code Tools

Jest Test Gen — A VS Code extension that provides a fast way to generate an initial Jest unit test file from a JavaScript or TypeScript source. Simply open a source file and select Generate Jest Tests from the command palette.

filesize — A VS Code extension that displays in the status bar the size of the currently focused file, with optional expanded and detailed views.

MySQL Shell for VS Code — A VS Code extension that enables interactive editing and execution of SQL for MySQL databases and the MySQL database service. It integrates the MySQL shell directly into VS Code development workflows.

JavaScript Booster — Hasn't been updated in a few years, but this is a VS Code extension that adds advanced JavaScript/TypeScript refactorings and commands.

VS Code Articles

VS Code – What's the Deal with the Telemetry? — An article discussing the fact that VS Code gathers data to improve performance of the app, and how you can disable the feature.

Use VS Code for Bug Reporting to Lower the Bar for New Contributors — About a new VS Code extension that lets you integrate issue reporting in your app directly from VS Code.

Jupyter Notebooks + VSCode Dev Container with Puppeteer Support  — Kees C. Bakker talks about his VS Code setup for building projects in Python on Windows.

Get Smarter Every Day — Every day Refind picks 7 links from around the web that make you smarter, tailored to your interests. Loved by 50k+ curious minds. Subscribe for free today.   Sponsor 

Best of the Rest

PhpStorm Plugins You Should Know — A list of 5 plugins for those who use the PhpStorm IDE.

Stashpad — A developer notepad that allows you to take notes and organize them how you want, without interrupting your workflow.

mason.nvim — A portable package manager for Neovim that runs everywhere Neovim runs.

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