VScode 101 | Lin’s Blog

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Post

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Published

date

Mar 10, 2026 04:25 PM

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tools/101/vscode

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Learn VSCode from Scratch

I. Brief Introduction

Visual Studio Code is an excellent code editor that supports multiple languages and offers a wide range of functionalities.

1.1 Why Choose VSCode

Free!

Cross-platform compatibility: macOS, Windows, and Linux

Effortless editing and debugging

Unlimited plugins

Perfect for web development

1.2 Official Website

1.2.1 Download

code.visualstudio.com

https://code.visualstudio.com/

1.2.2 Documentation

For specific details regarding the Docs help documentation, please refer to the website.

Auto-save

Getting Started

Initially, syntax highlighting and warnings may not be available for languages like Python. To enable these features, download the Python plugin by searching for "python" within the plugins section and installing it.

For HTML files, dragging them in initially won't show a preview. To enable real-time previews, install plugins like Live Preview (or simply search for "HTML").

II. R

Many RStudio features are available in VS Code, including syntax highlighting, code completion, warning notifications, formatting, terminal interaction, graph visualization, workspace variables, documentation access, and package management.

Plugins	Function
R Debugger	debug
httpgd	Image Preview
Look it up yourself	markdown

III. REMOTES

You can log into the server to utilize some Mobaxterm features.

3.1 Logging into the Server

ssh user.name@serverIP

3.2 Configuration

For more personalized settings, directly modify `setting.json`.

settings

0.8KB

3.3 Add a Quick Directory to the Server

Navigate directly to the menu →

Then enter the desired shortcut directory path in the search box

IV. Shortcuts

4.1 VS Code Core

Shortcut Keys	Function
⌘K or ⌘T	Theme
⇧⌘X	View Extension
⌘N	new file
⌘⇧D	Run and Debug
F5	Run `or use chmod` followed by `./filename`

4.2 Output

Shortcut keys	Function
⌘+Enter	Output to Terminal
⌘⌥enter	Output to Server
⌘⇧S	Run entire R file

4.3 File

Shortcut	Function
⌘n	Create a new file
⌘s	Save
⌘+	Zoom in
⌘⇧p	View Search

4.4 Server

Shortcut Keys	Function
⇧⌘⌥	ㅤ
⌘click	Click a directory; the left Explorer pane will jump to the corresponding directory

4.5 R

Shortcut	Function
Ctrl+Enter	Output to Terminal
Ctrl+Shift+S	Run entire R file

4.6 Utilities

To help everyone see the shortcuts I use, I employed this software

V. GitLab

5.1 If the project hasn't been cloned locally

5.2 If the project already exists locally

5.3 What if the project name has changed?

VI. Issues

6.1 Issues Encountered 001: The Missing Activity Bar

6.2 Issue 002: Quickly Running Scripts Line by Line

How canI send commands to the terminal in VSCodeusingCmd+Option+Enter likein RStudio?

setting → Keyboard Shortcuts → terminal.runSelectText → edit → cmd+enter