Issue #79  (Local History in Timeline View)10/25/23

In case you missed it, about a year and a half ago VS Code added the ability to track changes to files you edit and save in your editor independent of source control. This is referred to as Local History. This means you don't have to have Git initiated for that project and you still have access to a history of file changes. This is similar to Google Drive's automatic file history.

You can access a project's local history in the "Timeline" view of the Explorer panel.
 
If the project uses Git, you'll notice that by default the Timeline will list both the Git and non-Git changes that have registered. If you click the little "filter" icon at the top right of the Timeline panel, you'll be able to choose whether to view the Git version history along with the local history.
 
For each entry in the local history list, you have the ability to:

• Compare to the current version of the file
• Compare to another local history entry
• Restore the entry so it's the current one
• Delete the entry
• Rename the entry

Just right-click any entry to determine what to do.
 
All the settings pertaining to Local History can be found by found by searching for "localHistory" in your settings.
 
You can disable Local History if you want and, as shown above, you can change the number of entries that are saved as well as the total file size for a single entry.

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

VS Code Tools

Java Platform Support — Oracle just announced this extension that brings full-featured Java development (edit-compile-debug and test cycle) for Maven and Gradle projects to VSCode. See articles section below for more details.

Deno for VS Code — Official VS Code extension from the Deno team that adds support for using Deno with VS Code, powered by the Deno language server and requires the Deno CLI to be installed.

Data Skills Aren’t “Nice to Have”, They’re Essential. — Guided interactive problem solving that's effective and fun. Master concepts in 15 minutes a day. Whether you’re a complete beginner or ready to dive into machine learning and beyond, Brilliant makes it easy to level up fast with fun, bite-sized lessons.  Sponsor 

Git History Diff — VS Code extension to view Git history, diff of committed files, git blame info, stash details, and more.

VS Code Articles

Introducing the Oracle Java Platform Extension for Visual Studio Code — Official announcement for the Java VS Code extension linked above, with some details on what the extension includes.

How to Run Code in the Terminal in VS Code — If you're new to using the terminal in VS Code, this visual tutorial with lots of screenshots looks to be a good starting point.

ChatGPT for Enterprise Databases — Chat with your enterprise databases using secure generative AI and empower business users in your team to do their own data analyses in seconds.   Sponsor 

10 Must-Know VS Code Shortcuts — Some standard ones here, but there might be one or two that are new to you, including a few in the comments.
 

Best of the Rest

Rivet — An open-source visual programming environment for building AI agents with LLMs.

Java Playground — An online JSFiddle-like playground for writing and running Java programs.

Exploring Alternatives for Visual Studio For Mac — Microsoft has announced they're retiring Visual Studio for Mac. This discusses the options for replacing that IDE.

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