In this post I thought I would put together a list of some of the most useful VS Code extensions I use for programming and documentation writing.

I am not going to include what themes I have installed as that is more of an individual choice to make. With that being said, let's make a start.

The extensions I mainly use are for Python and Markdown but there are some additional extension that I use for different languages and scenarios. Below is a list of most of the language extensions I have installed and are self-explanatory so I won't go into detail about them.

Bash (shell scripting)

JavaScript

Jinja

Python

Most of the above are auto-installed by VS Code when a file matching that language is opened for the first time.

AutoDocstring is one of the biggest time savers for documenting functions in Python. Once the function has been created and all of the parameters are defined, start creating a docstring using """ at the top of the function and Press enter. It will auto-populate with some boilerplate details, along with the list of parameters that are in the function.

All that needs to be done then is to give a summary of what the function does, along with each parameter.

Python indent helps to maintain the right levels of indentation of the Python code in the file that is being worked on. It works by typing out some code, such as defining a function and then pressing enter . The next line will be indented into the function as is required by Python.

It helps to avoid issues that can occur when indentation is not done correctly which can cause errors or strange bugs when the code runs.

Google-Search is a very simple extension that adds Google this to the right click menu. It works by highlighting some text, right-clicking and then select Google this . A Google search will open in the default browser for whatever was highlighted.

Very useful to save a few seconds diagnosing error messages.

Markdown-All-In-One is a very powerful extension for working with Markdown files. The main benefits of it are:

Generate a table of contents easily.

Shortcuts for common formatting methods in Markdown.

Preview a markdown file in a new VS Code tab to see how it will look.

There are other benefits but these are the main ones.

This is a must have extension for anyone working with Markdown files in VS Code.

I hope that you found this list to be of use. If you use some other extensions, please let me know in the comments below as I do like to look for better ways to improve my productivity and workflow.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day!

Working as an independent software developer that is mostly developing applications for Apple platforms. Alongside that, I do some blogging, technical writing and videos on YouTube.

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