Create vsc_as_ide.rst

Author: brydavis

source/supplemental/dev_environment/vsc_as_ide.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+.. _vsc_as_ide:
+
+##########################################
+Using Visual Studio Code as a lightweight Python IDE
+##########################################
+
+Visual Studio Code is an extensible and customizable text editor from Microsoft that provides a very minimal layout with additional tooling such as an excellent built-in terminal.
+
+
+Requirements
+============
+
+Any IDE should ease your development experience by providing the following:
+
+* It should provide excellent, configurable syntax colorization.
+* It should allow for robust tab completion.
+* It should offer the ability to jump to the definition of symbols in other files.
+* It should perform automatic code linting to help avoid silly mistakes.
+* It should be able to interact with a Python interpreter such that when debugging, the editor will follow along with the debugger.
+
+Visual Studio Code requires that you perform some setup out of the box (see below for details).
+
+
+Which Version?
+==============
+
+There's just the latest version available to download.
+
+This ensures that all recent bug fixes and updates have been made.
+
+Visual Studio Code runs on Macs, Windows, and Linux flavors like Ubuntu, Debian, Red Hat, etc.
+
+Also, Visual Studio Code performs updates on itself, so there's no need to download newer versions of the app... you should already have it.
+
+Installation
+============
+
+Check out this solid video_ that will walk you through the process of setting up Visual Studio Code for Python in detail.
+
+.. _video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TILIcrrVABg/
+
+Go to the Visual Studio Code website_.
+
+.. _website: https://code.visualstudio.com/
+
+Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you'll see links for installers to all the major OS platforms.
+
+Download your flavor and run the installer.
+
+
+Basic Settings
+==============
+
+Visual Studio Code can be used out of the box with no setup as a text editor. It automatically
+recognizes file types and helpfully highlights text accordingly. To use in this manner,
+write your Python files in Visual Studio Code, then run them in your Python command prompt 
+or Visual Studio Code's own built in terminal (Ctrl + \`)
+
+
+Extending the Editor
+====================
+
+After you've install Visual Studio Code, there are many ways to extend it for working with Python.
+
+The video linked above goes into this much deeper.
+
+There is also a great tutorial for setting up Python here_.
+
+.. _here: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/python/python-tutorial