Microsoft has started rolling out the August 2024 update of Visual Studio Code, its powerful cross-platform text editor. This is version 1.93, and it's available right now with eight key improvements: IntelliSense, GitHub Copilot, and more.
The key highlights of this update are as follows:
- Profiles editor - Switch and manage your profiles from a single place.
- Django unit test support - Discover and run Django unit tests from the Test Explorer.
- IntelliSense on vscode.dev - Boost your JS & TS coding in vscode.dev with IntelliSense.
- Notebook diff viewer - Efficiently review changes in notebooks by collapsing unchanged cells.
- Resize columns via the keyboard - Resizing table columns in VS Code is more accessible via the keyboard.
- Source Control Graph - Easily hide, collapse, or move the Source Control Graph.
- GitHub Copilot - Add context in Quick Chat and improve test generation and chat history.
- Experiment: Custom Copilot instructions - Define specific code-generation instructions for Copilot.
Over the last couple of years, we've witnessed all the hype about generative AI and how it's going to make us all super productive. One of the main pushers of this narrative is Microsoft, so it's not surprising to see the AI improvements it's making with GitHub Copilot in VS Code 1.93.
For example, when you write code, it's best practice to write unit tests to ensure the code is doing what you want it to. AI is great at writing these unit tests. In this VS Code update, GitHub Copilot first checks to see if you have an existing test file for the code you're working on. If you do, GitHub Copilot will now append new tests to the end, but if you don't, it will go ahead and create a new test file for the generated tests.
Another GitHub Copilot improvement is in the Quick Chat. You can now use a new action called Attach Context, which lets you attach files to your Copilot request so that the AI can be more useful. You can now also check your GitHub Copilot chat history via the Show Chats button at the top of the Chat view. The chats have user-friendly titles and are sorted by the date of their last request for easy access.
Visual Studio Code 1.93 is absolutely packed with new functionality beyond GitHub Copilot improvements. If you'd like to check individual items, check out the full release notes here. If you want to try the program out, you can download it here. If you already have it, be on the lookout for any available updates, and if you're on Linux and have it, then check your update manager.
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