Issue #94  (VS Code Profiles)02/07/24

As you might know, VS Code added a Profiles feature in early 2023 that allows you to save a set of configurations specific to a project. Here are some useful things to know about VS Code Profiles.

First, even if you haven't used the Profiles feature, everything you do in VS Code is added to a "default" Profile. You can create a new profile via File > Preferences > Profiles, or by clicking the gear icon in the bottom left area and choosing "Create Profile" from the Profiles menu.
 
The Profiles menu includes other options like the ability to export and import profiles.

VS Code includes a set of Profile Templates that you can choose from when you're creating a new Profile.
 
As shown in the screenshot above, there are 7 Profile Templates available for various types of projects and workflows. I would assume others may be added in the future depending on demand.

And one last feature I'll mention was just added to Profiles a few months ago. You can now associate an icon with each Profile you create, so you can easily recognize what Profile you're currently in. Previously, the gear icon would add some small letters that weren't too discernible. An icon works better for this.

You can set an icon you create a new Profile or by choosing "Edit Profile" in the Profile menu after a Profile is created.
 
With the icon selected for the Profile, that icon will be displayed in place of the gear icon in your VS Code UI. In the screenshots above and below, I've chosen a rocket icon for this VS Code Profile.
 
The options for icons look to be limited to 72 line-based icons and I don't see a way to add your own custom icon. That could be something that will change in the future, but for now this is a useful way to know what Profile you're currently working in at a glance.

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

VS Code Tools

SnippetHub Lens AI — VS Code extension that lets you generate test cases and unit tests with AI Test Storm, use instructed AI Lenses, shape your code, and chat with top AI models.

DocuWriter.ai — Automated AI-powered tools to generate code and API documentation, tests, and code refactors from your source code files, available for use as a VS Code extension.

Techpresso — Receive a daily summary of the most important AI and Tech news, carefully selected from 60+ media outlets. Join 30,000+ professionals from OpenAI, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Hugging Face, JP Morgan, and more.  Sponsor 

Prettify Symbols Mode — Inspired by prettify-symbols-mode for Emacs, this VS Code extension makes visual substitutions to your source code (e.g. displaying -> as →), while never touching your code.

VS Code Articles & Videos

📺 20+ Amazing VS Code Tips I Wish I Knew Earlier — Video by James Quick covering a lot of stuff power users will likely already be familiar with, but I'm sure most of you will find a new tidbit in here.

VS Code 1.86 (January 2024 Updates) — After the usual winter hiatus on updates, here's the latest updates to VS Code which include per-window zooming, multi-file diffing, flexible auto-save options, and more.

Visual Studio Code Shortcuts for Vue.js Developers — This is mostly just a list and the title is misleading because the shortcuts are applicable to any type of coding.

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 
 

Best of the Rest

TextEditors Wiki — Text editor reviews, analysis, and commentary by the community at large. Since 2003 this has grown to be the home of the largest collection of text editor information on the web.

CyberNvim — The world's simplest and most extensible fully-fledged Neovim distribution.

Regexper — Enter a JavaScript-style regular expression and this tool will display the expression in a visual "railroad diagram" format, which you can download as SVG or PNG.

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