Fans of both Raspberry Pi and Visual Studio Code (aka VS Code) are rejoicing – in February 2021, it was announced that the two tech products will now be integrated!

For those who don’t yet know, VS Code is an open-source code editor that was first developed for Windows, Mac, and Linux. VS Code makes text editing easy and also provides git source code control. It has many desirable features, such as Intellisense that will autocomplete your syntax and debugging straight from the code editor. VS Code also connects with a wide range of extensions, so users can easily incorporate a variety of tools and programming languages.

Best of all, VS Code is a 100% free tool you can run and use anywhere. And now, you can use it with your Pi! VS Code now supports Debian Linux on x64 with builds also for ARM and ARM64, all of which can run on the current Raspberry Pi OS. If you have a Raspberry Pi 400, it’s super simple to get VS Code up and running.

Benefits of VS Code Coming to Raspberry Pi

One of the most significant benefits of the new Raspberry Pi / VS Code integration is that users can now have an all-in-one solution for learning how to code and deploying that code. Students can learn to code with Python and create projects with their new code using just VS Code on a Raspberry Pi 400.

Even better, the seamless integration makes this an ideal tool for both beginners and advanced users – which should make it easier for beginners to become advanced users! 10-year-old students get to use the same tools as adult professionals, which not only inspires them to continue learning but will make it easier for them to enter the workforce someday.

Get VS Code Installed on Your Raspberry Pi 

VS Code now comes as part of the Raspberry Pi OS package.

To get VS Code running on your Pi, just launch the Raspberry Pi Terminal and run the commands: “sudo apt update” and “sudo apt install code -y”. These commands will download and install VS code to your device. Now, you just need to go the “Programming” folder in your Raspberry Pi menu to start running the editor.

And – if you have the new Raspberry Pi Pico, you won’t even have to go through the installation. VS Code comes already pre-installed as part of the latest setup for Pico.

Start Your Raspberry Pi + VS Code Journey!

It’s easy to get started with VS Code! Even though the editor has many features and extensions that may seem overwhelming at first glance, you can find several self-guided learning resources to help get you started. For example, Microsoft has several free resources, including guides to develop web applications and use Git version-control tools.

There’s even a fun lesson that uses Wonder Woman 1984 to teach Python basics. With this learning path that’s under 2 hours long, students will engage with the popular movie / superhero icon to write their first line in Python and build a message decoder program. They even get to make a personality quiz to find out which character from the movie is most like them. Go girl power!

Have you explored using VS Code on your Raspberry Pi device yet? Tell us about your experience!

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