VS Code for Git, GitLab and C++

Gerhard Bräunlich

January 2022

Setup

🐧	Visual Studio Code on Linux
🪟	Visual Studio Code on Windows
🍏	Visual Studio Code on macOS

Inofficial (FOSS) alternative: vscodium.

Note on privacy: Disable telemetry

Basic features

Quick Open: `Ctrl+P` / `⌘+P`

Start char	Effect
	Open file
`>`	Command palette
`@`	Symbol lookup
`#`	Symbol lookup
`:`	Jump to line

Config

Via command palette: Ctrl+⇧+P / ⌘+⇧+P

Config path (share / backup config):

$HOME/.config/Code/User/settings.json # 🐧

%APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json # 🪟

$HOME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json # 🍏

Per project config:

.vscode/settings.json

Install extensions

Quick Open (Ctrl+P / ⌘+P) -> ext install -> Enter.

Then search by keyword and browse.

Using the extension id: Quick Open (Ctrl+P / ⌘+P) -> ext install <extension-id> -> Enter.

gitlab integration

View issues.
Create and review merge requests.
Validate your GitLab CI configuration.
View the status of your pipeline.
Create and paste snippets to, and from, your editor.

ext install gitlab.gitlab-workflow

Then follow their instructions

Possible issue: certificates

C++ integration

C++ tools

Code completion
Code navigation
Debugging

ext install ms-vscode.cpptools # ⚠️ proprietary

Auto formatting

Requires: clang-format

🐧	`sudo apt-get install clang-format`
🍏	`brew install clang-format`
🪟	instructions

Settings:

{
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
}

CMake integration

CMake tools

ext install ms-vscode.cmake-tools

initial configuration,
run / debug build / change build type
autobuild on configuration changes,
autocompletion of CMake commands and vars,

Working remote

Remote SSH

ext install ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh # ⚠️ proprietary

Requires: Setup of SSH keys

Working in a container

Remote container

ext install ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers # ⚠️ proprietary

Requires: docker

Other useful extensions

Code Spell Checker

ext install streetsidesoftware.code-spell-checker

Doxygen Documentation Generator

ext install cschlosser.doxdocgen

C/C++ Extension Pack

ext install ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack

Contains:

C/C++
C/C++ Themes
CMake
CMake Tools
Doxygen Documentation Generator
Better C++ Syntax
Remote Development Extension Pack

Exercises

https://gitlab.ethz.ch/sis/courses/vscode-cpp/exercises/cpp-gitlab-workflow

Exercise 1: Create / publish a new C++ project
Exercise 2: Modify the project / review changes

Setup euler for ssh-remote scicomp.ethz.ch/wiki/VSCode

FAQ

Disable telemetry

Settings > Search “telementry” > Telemetry: Enable Telemetry

Also see: code.visualstudio.com/docs/getstarted/telemetry

Certificate Issue

If you get

request to https://gitlab.ethz.ch/api/graphql failed, reason:
certificate has expired

Set

{
"http.systemCertificates": false
}

in the config.

Install proprietary extensions in VS Codium

C++ tools: Grab a release here and use

codium --install-extension downloads/folder/cpptools-linux.vsix

Remote ssh: Grab a release from here

codium --install-extension \
  downloads/ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh-*.vsix

Remote container: Grab a release from here

codium --install-extension \
  downloads/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-*.vsix

VS Code Marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com

VS Codium repository: https://open-vsx.org

Acknowledgements

Slides:

Reveal.js, MIT
Pandoc, GPLv2+, BSD 3-clause

Mik Rybinski and Manuel Weberndorfer for careful reviews and suggestions.