Why VS Code?
We are spoiled right now for choices of good editors for development. One has quickly come to the top as a favorite however: 2019 State of JS
Learn your tools
Good tools can help you work more efficiently...but only if you spend the time to learn what they can do for you!
I once had to move a group of users off of the old main frame menu driven system they had used for years to a new shiny web based system...they hated it! Why? Keyboard driven interfaces are faster than mouse driven ones once you learn them. Everytime you have to take your hands off the keyboard and mouse it slows you way down...learn the keyboard shortcuts for the common tasks you do.
Shortlist of useful keyboard shortcuts
- cmd/ctrl + shift + P: opens the command palette
- cmd/ctrl + B: Open/close the sidebar
- cmd/ctrl + P: Switch to another file in the project
- cmd/ctrl c,v,z,s: Copy/paste/undo/save
- cmd/ctrl + D: add selection to next Find match
- cmd/ctrl + /: toggle comment for current line (or selection)
- alt + Z: toggle soft-wrap
- alt + up or down arrow: move current line (or selection) up or down
Projects
Make sure you are always working in a project instead of just random open files. How do you tell?
Extensions
A good tool these days should be extensible. See the Week 1 activity for more information on how to install extensions. Here are a few extensions I like and recommend:
- Prettier: These will automatically format your code for you...you (and I) will spend so much less energy reviewing well formatted code!
- LiveServer
- A theme you love (I'm currently using Cobalt2, but I also really like Hop Light and Night Owl Light)
- Project Manager