Vim. Yes I am a long term Vim user and I think I still will be a Vim user in a couple of years too. But today I would like to show you, that Microsoft Code is really a great addition for sometimes Golang coders like me. Yes I now, Vim is also a great Golang development IDE but often I need some visualization of a Markdown file for example also.

So lets have a look at Microsoft Code:

Installation

The installation is straight forward. Head over to the official download page and download and install the appropriate package for your operating system. In my case, this is Linux (Ubuntu to be precise). After the installation, you can startup the editor via the startup menu of your operating system or you can just type in code in your console.

If you do this, and you are using a remote graphical session like X2GO or XRDP or something similar, nothing will happen, because there is currently a little problem with this setup. But, you can solve this. Just read this issue and at the bottom of it, you can find the (Ubuntu) solution.

Configuration

After Microsoft Code opens, you should change some user settings. You can open the settings screen through the menu or you can press crtl+shift+p which opens the quick command palette. Not start typing, for example “open settings” and select the correct entry to edit the user settings. Here are the settings, which I have overwritten in my environment.

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{
    "files.autoSave": "off",
    "editor.fontSize": 11,
    "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 11,
    "go.toolsGopath": "/home/mario/go",
    "go.inferGopath": true,
}

First, I disabled auto save. In my opinion, this is a little bit annoying if you are writing code, as every time you type, the code is parsed immediately which can slowdown the editor performance a lot. Second, I lower the font size. The default of 14 is to huge for me. I like it to see more code on screen to follow the flow of a code easier. go.toolsGopath is important, as it tells the Microsoft Code golang-plugin - more on this later - where to install the plugin dependencies. go.inferGopath is also important because it tells golang-plugin, to use the actual opened folder as GOPATH variable - this is really useful.

golang-plugin

Open the extension browser (crtl+string+p - “extension install”), search for the golang extension and install it. The installation will also install all golang extension dependencies automatically, for example go-lint. All the dependencies will be installed in the path which is defined by the go.toolsGopath.

govendor

govendor is a simple golang solution to resolve your project dependencies. You can get it from this Github project page. It is pretty easy to install and use. Just read through the documentation and follow the given steps :-).

Conclusion

If you have setup all correctly, you will get a nice and useful editor for graphical desktop environments. Microsoft Code is no replacement for VIM or Emacs or the editor of your choice but it is a useful and powerful addition.

Have fun!

-M