Raspberry Pi Visual Studio Code: Installing VS Code on Raspbian

In this Raspberry Pi Visual Studio Code (VS Code) tutorial I go through all the steps to installing this handy code editor.

If you’re using the Raspberry Pi as a desktop and want a decent program to edit and create code, then Visual Studio Code is perfect. It is feature packed and contains basically everything you will need to make your very own programs.

I recommend using a Git service such a self-hosted Git, GitHub or even Gitlab. These software packages are not just great for version control but also making sure that your code is backed up and readily available.

There are many other code editors that you can use on the Raspberry Pi. Each of the editors has their own pros and cons. I find VS Code one of the best that you can easily install on the Raspberry Pi.

Equipment

Below are all the pieces of equipment that I made use of to do this Raspberry Pi VS Code tutorial.

Optional:

Raspberry Pi Case

Main Features of Visual Studio Code

Many features of Visual Studio Code makes it stand out from alternatives. One of the best parts is that it’s completely free and very customizable.

Open Source & Free

An exciting part of VS Code is that it is completely open source and you can view all the code on GitHub. It is registered under the MIT license allowing you flexibility if you wanted to fork and edit the code.

You can also check the Raspberry Pi build on GitHub. These two Github’s are important if you wanted to check out what you’re about to install.

Built-in Git

This feature is super handy if you use version control a lot. It works with Git and other SCM (Software Configuration Management) providers and allows you to review diffs, stages and commit files from within the editor.

Debugging Capabilities

You can debug your code in the editor which helps reduce the amount you need to rely on print statement debugging. You can debug your apps using breakpoints, call stacks and an interactive console.

Extensible and Customizable

One of the coolest features of Visual Studio Code is how extensible. For example, you can install new language packs, themes, debuggers, formatting tools, and so much more.

All your extensions are in separate processes so that they won’t slow down the editor.

Installing Visual Studio Code

Jay or aka Headmelted provides builds of Visual Studio Code that can work on the less popular platforms. This range includes operating systems such as ChromeOS, Raspbian, Linux Mint, Fedora and more.

The apt.sh script further down the page will typically add the required GPG keys for the package to install correctly. However, I have had issues with it working correctly. To install the correct GPG keys simply run the following command.

wget https://packagecloud.io/headmelted/codebuilds/gpgkey -O - | sudo apt-key add -

To install Visual Studio Code, you only need to run a straightforward command.

curl -L https://code.headmelted.com/installers/apt.sh | sudo bash

Once done you should be able to find the visual studio code under the accessories menu called Code-OSS.

You can now start coding to hearts desire on the Raspberry Pi. You should realize quickly why Visual Studio Code has become a favorite amongst many avid programmers.

I hope that this Raspberry Pi Visual Studio Code tutorial has shown you all the steps to setting up this code editor. If you have some thoughts, tips or anything else then please feel free to head over to our forums.