Tips on Visual Studio Code (vscode) IDE Use

How to opt out of auto-updates in VS Code?

Issues have arisen for students where vscode was configured to automatically update to newer versions. This link shows how to disable auto updates How do I opt out of VS Code auto-updates?

‘python’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,

This error is caused when python cannot be found by your install of VS Code.The Windows installer of Python 3.3 (or above) includes an option that will automatically add python.exe to the system search path. Using this installation method will save you from having to edit your system search paths.. You can download the latest web installer version of Python from www.python.org. You’ll then have to download and run the appropriate installer, depending on your CPU architecture.

My python file is not being found by VS Code

We have seen an unusual issue with users with spaces in the folder or file names where the python code is stored. Rename the folder to remove spaces and restart VS Code and your files will be “found” by VS Code.

Trouble opening files in Python

In VSCode go to the cog icon on the bottom left->Settings. Type python.terminal.executeInFileDir in the search bar. Check the box. Try rerunning your code.

Make a Backup of My Files to Local Media

Most laptops and tablets, and some desktops, have card slots for SD/MicroSD or similar. These cards are great for backups and add-on storage. On the one hand a card can be left in place while you’re on the move, and on the other hand, you can store a collection of these in a small packet or container. Great if internet speeds are not fast enough for online storage, and you can buy more storage as you need it, at reasonable prices:
https://www.memoryc.ie/flash-memory-cards/microsd.html#Capacity[]=128GB&Capacity[]=64GB&orderby=price&page=0

If you don’t have a microSD slot, you can add one, or get an adapter:
https://www.memoryc.ie/flash-memory-cards/flash-card-readers.html#orderby=price&page=0

Managing Disk Space

Windows:

1. Go to Settings > System > Storage to view the total space you have available, what space has been used, and how much free space remains on your hard drive. …
2. Uninstall Apps. Programs downloaded to your computer can be a common culprit in filling your hard drive.. At the Storage settings screen, click Apps & features to view a list of installed apps you can review and uninstall if you no longer want them. Here, you can sort the list by name, date, or size. To remove an app, click it and select the Uninstall button.
3. Manage Photos/Video/Music. If you store photos or other media on your PC, there will be icons on the Storage settings screen. Click these and, for example, select the View Pictures button to go to the default Pictures location where you can seek out images to delete. Video files can fill a drive very quickly.
4. Remove Temporary Files. Another category you’ll want to check is Temporary files. Windows has a bad habit of hoarding temporary installation files, temporary internet files, and other items that you typically don’t need. To view these, click “Temporary Files” on the Storage settings screen.

Visit PC Mag article for further advice on each of the above steps.

Mac/OS:

1. Click on the Apple logo in the top left of your screen and choose About This Mac.
2. Next, click the Storage tab. This will show you how much storage you have available and how it’s used. You’ll see a bar which indicates how much space is given to Photos, System, Apps, Mail, and so on. This display has varies slightly depending on which versions of macOS you have installed.
3. We recommend you apply Optimise Storage automatically setting to have older files, such as watched TV shows, cleaned up automatically.
4. We also recommend the Empty Trash Automatically setting to have older files cleaned up from your Recycle Bin automatically.
5. Remove files from your Downloads folder
6. Focus on the files that are taking up most space. You can also do it easily by Opening a new Finder window and navigate to your Home folder. Open a new Find window and in the first dropdown menu under Search choose Other. From the window that opens next, scroll down until you see File Size, and check the box next to it. You have now selected that as the attribute for a search. In the next dropdown menu choose ‘greater than’, and change the file size units to MB. Now type in a file size, say 100, to display all the files in your Home folder that are bigger than 100MB. You can now choose which files to delete or archive on an external disk, and free up disk space quickly.

Linux/Ubuntu/Unix:

You should Open a terminal and then go to your home directory by typing:

cd

At the prompt, type:
du -k |sort -n

The output of this command is a list of all the files in your directory and the size of each. This should aid you in deleting large files. You may delete any files with .DCOP or .kss or .x* or .X* file extensions. You should also delete any unnecessary files that you have saved.

N.B. You should NOT delete any of the following files:

.gnome, .mozilla, your mozilla mail inbox file, etc.

To delete a file, type:
rm