VS Code March 2019 Release Is a Snap (Linux, That Is) -- Visual Studio Magazine

VS Code March 2019 Release Is a Snap (Linux, That Is)

By David Ramel
04/05/2019

Using the new Visual Studio Code 1.33 (March 2019 version) is a snap -- of the Linux variety that lets the popular open source code editor be distributed as a snap package.

Editor's note: this article has been corrected to clarify that v1.33 is the VS Code March release, though the announcement post was published in April.

"We now fully support distributing Visual Studio Code as a snap package," Microsoft said in an announcement post. "Snaps work across many different Linux distributions, provide reliable execution environments for a much stabler VS Code, and support background updates. Yes, that's right, you now get in-product automatic updates for Linux just as the Windows and macOS users do."

An Ubuntu post announcing the new snappiness explains that: "Snaps are containerized software packages designed to work across cloud, desktop and IoT devices. They work natively on most popular Linux distributions and feature automatic updates and rollback functionality, enhanced security and greater flexibility for developers working within Linux environments."

VS Code is featured in the Snap Store (or, if you're an "Insider," here).

"Visual Studio Code is hugely popular, and it's fantastic that we're able to help it extend its reach into the Linux ecosystem," commented Evan Dandrea, engineering manager at Canonical, which does the Ubuntu distro. "Developers are the lifeblood of snaps and it is great to see this recognition from Microsoft as they join a host of others who can now provide their users with the latest updates seamlessly, and with assurance of rollbacks and containment."

The new VS Code release otherwise features a slew of new features, tweaks and fixes, neatly summarized by Microsoft like this:

Easy Display Language selection: Quick Pick to choose between installed locales.
Configurable IntelliSense display: Filter out elements like keywords or remove displayed icons.
Choose default formatter: Set default document formatter by project and language.
Go to Definition locations: Open Peek view and/or navigate to primary location.
Convert to destructured parameters: New TS refactoring to use named parameter objects.
Debugging support for subsessions: See subprocesses displayed under main debug session.
Launch URI with debug session: Automatically open a browser when debugging web server code.
Install missing extension dependencies: Detect and offer to install missing dependencies.
"Remote Debugging for Node.js" topic: Learn how to attach to Node.js apps running on Azure.

Or, if you prefer your new features summarized by category, Microsoft took care of that, too:

Workbench: Improved Source Control view, easier list navigation with screen readers.
Integrated Terminal: ConPTY on by default on Windows, rendering performance improvements.
Languages: Disable CSS property value completions, TS improved inference and const assertions.
Extension Authoring: Finalized smart selection API, install extension command.
Engineering: Official Linux snap package, faster OSS builds with NPM package caching.

About the Author

David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.

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