Introduction:
Visual Studio Code is a powerful and popular code editor that can be used for a wide range of programming languages, including Python, JavaScript, and HTML/CSS. In this blog, we’ll walk you through the steps to download and install Visual Studio Code on Windows specifically for Python development.
Step 1: Go to the Visual Studio Code website
First, you need to go to the Visual Studio Code website at code.visualstudio.com. Once you’re on the website, click on the “Download” button located in the top menu bar.
Step 2: Download the installer
On the download page, you can download the vs code user installer according to your system architecture.
Step 3: Run the installer
Once you’ve downloaded the Visual Studio Code installer, locate the file in your downloads folder or any other location where you saved it, and double-click on the file to run it.
Step 4: License agreement
Accept the Microsoft software license terms of agreement and click on “Next”.
Step 5: Choose the installation location
You’ll also be prompted to select the installation location. By default, Visual Studio Code will be installed in the “C:Program FilesMicrosoft VS Code” folder, but you can choose a different location if you prefer.
Step 6: Start menu
Keep the default name for start menu folder, but you can also choose different name if you prefer and click on “Next”.
Step 7: Additional tasks
Select all the check boxes to add additional tasks and click on “Next”.
Step 8: Install Visual Studio Code
Once you’ve made your selections, click on the “Install” button to begin the installation process. This may take a few minutes to complete.
Step 9: Launch Visual Studio Code
After the installation is complete, you can launch Visual Studio Code by double-clicking on the icon on your desktop or by searching for it in the Windows Start menu.
Step 10: Install the Python extension
To install the Python extension, click on the Extensions icon located on the left-hand side of the screen (it looks like a square with four squares inside it). In the search bar, type “Python” and press Enter. The first search result should be the “Python” extension from Microsoft. Click on the green “Install” button to install the extension.
Step 11: Configure Python interpreter
In order to use Python with Visual Studio Code, you need to configure the Python interpreter. To do this, go to the “View” menu at the top of the screen and select “Command Palette”. In the Command Palette, type “Python: Select Interpreter” and press Enter. This will open a list of available Python interpreters. If you have Python installed on your computer, you should see it listed here. Select the appropriate interpreter and press Enter.
Conclusion:
Congratulations! You’ve successfully downloaded and installed Visual Studio Code on your Windows computer for Python development. With the Python extension and interpreter configured, you’re now ready to start writing and editing Python code in Visual Studio Code.