beautify shortcut vscode with code examples

Microsoft's Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a powerful and feature-rich code editor that provides developers with an exceptional coding experience. One of the most exciting things about VS Code is that it is highly customizable, with many extensions, themes, and shortcuts available to enhance productivity, aesthetics, and functionality. In this article, we'll focus on the latter by exploring different ways in which you can beautify shortcut VS Code using code examples.

Before we get started, let's briefly talk about why you should care about VS Code shortcuts. Simply put, shortcuts are keyboard combinations that allow you to perform specific actions quickly and efficiently, without having to navigate multiple menus or use your mouse. The more shortcuts you know and use, the faster you'll get things done and the less time you'll waste on repetitive tasks. That said, it can be overwhelming to memorize all of the shortcuts available in VS Code, which is why customizing them according to your preferences can help streamline your workflow.

Now, let's look at some of the ways you can beautify shortcut VS Code using code examples.

Use the Command Palette

The Command Palette is a feature in VS Code that allows you to search and execute any command you want quickly. By default, you can access it using the Ctrl+Shift+P shortcut (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac), but you can change this if you prefer another combination.

To beautify this shortcut, you can add more commands to the palette or rearrange them in a more logical or aesthetically pleasing order. For example, you may want to group related commands together, such as "Duplicate Line," "Move Line Up," and "Move Line Down," or you may want to prioritize certain commands that you use more frequently, such as "Go to Definition" or "Toggle Sidebar."

To do this, open the Command Palette by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P (or your customized shortcut), then click the gear icon at the top right corner and select "Configure Command Palette." You'll see a JSON file that lists all the commands in the palette, along with their order and descriptions. You can modify this file to your liking, using the VS Code API documentation as a reference for the command names and arguments.

Here's an example of how you can add a custom command to the palette, specifically a shortcut to format all your code using the Prettier extension:

{
 "command": "editor.action.formatDocument",
 "key": "ctrl+shift+f",
 "when": "editorTextFocus && !editorReadonly"
}

This code tells VS Code to bind the Ctrl+Shift+F key combination to the "formatDocument" command only when the editor is active and not read-only (i.e., you can edit the file). You can add this code to the "keybindings.json" file in your user settings, or use an extension such as "Custom Shortcuts" to manage your key bindings more conveniently.

Customize the Tab Behavior

Tabs are a common UI element in code editors that allow you to switch between open files or groups of files. VS Code lets you customize how tabs are displayed and controlled, such as whether they're located at the top or bottom of the editor, how wide they are, and how they behave when you close or open them.

To beautify this aspect of VS Code, you can experiment with different tab settings that suit your preferences or match your theme. For example, you can add a custom color to the active tab, or hide the tab bar altogether and use only the editor group skills. You can also configure tabs to open in a specific order or in a new window, and define keyboard shortcuts to navigate between them.

Here's an example of how you can add a custom tab color using the "Material Theme" extension:

{
 "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
  "tab.activeBackground": "#008495"
 }
}

This code sets the active tab background color to a teal shade, which can make it easier to distinguish which file you're currently editing. You can add this code to the "settings.json" file in your user settings, or through the VS Code settings UI by searching for "Color Customizations" under the "Workbench" category.

Create Snippets for Common Tasks

Snippets are reusable code templates that you can insert into your files by typing a shortcut or choosing them from a menu. They're useful for speeding up repetitive tasks or reducing errors when coding, especially for functions, classes, or HTML tags that have many attributes or arguments.

To beautify this feature, you can create your own snippets that match your coding style or save time on common tasks. For example, you can create a snippet for importing a certain library or framework, or for printing a debug log message with a timestamp. You can also customize the placeholders and tab stops within a snippet to make it more flexible and intuitive.

Here's an example of how you can create a custom Python snippet for generating a Fibonacci sequence:

{
 "python-fibonacci": {
  "prefix": "fib",
  "body": [
   "def fibonacci(n):",
   "\tif n <= 0:",
   "\t\treturn []",
   "\telif n == 1:",
   "\t\treturn [0]",
   "\telse:",
   "\t\tsequence = [0, 1]",
   "\t\twhile len(sequence) < n:",
   "\t\t\tnext_num = sequence[-2] + sequence[-1]",
   "\t\t\tsequence.append(next_num)",
   "\t\treturn sequence"
  ],
  "description": "Generate a Fibonacci sequence of length n"
 }
}

This code defines a new snippet called "python-fibonacci" that has the prefix "fib" (meaning you can type "fib" and then hit Tab to expand the snippet). The body of the snippet contains a Python function to generate a Fibonacci sequence up to a given length n. The function checks for edge cases, initializes the sequence, and iterates through the sequence until it has enough elements. You can add this code to the "snippets.json" file in your user settings, or create a new language-specific snippet file by selecting "Preferences: Configure User Snippets" in the Command Palette and choosing the desired language.

Use Multi-Cursor Editing

Multi-Cursor Editing is a feature in VS Code that allows you to edit multiple lines or selections at once, using multiple cursors that can be synchronized or independent. This feature is especially handy for refactoring code or adding repetitive code snippets to multiple places at once, without having to copy and paste them manually.

To beautify this feature, you can learn some shortcuts that make multi-cursor editing more intuitive or efficient. For example, you can use Alt+Click to add a new cursor at a specific location, or use Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down to add a cursor above or below the current cursor. You can also use the Ctrl+D shortcut to select the next occurrence of the current selection and add a new cursor at that location.

Here's an example of how you can use multi-cursor editing to replace a block of code with a new variable:

# Before:
x = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
y = [2, 4, 6, 8, 10]
z = [3, 6, 9, 12, 15]

# After:
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
x = [n * 2 for n in numbers]
y = [n * 4 for n in numbers]
z = [n * 6 for n in numbers]

Here, you can use multi-cursor editing to select the block of code that defines the lists x, y, and z, then type Shift+Ctrl+L to split it into multiple selections, one per line. Next, you can type Home to move the cursors to the beginning of the lines, then type numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] and hit Enter to create a new variable called numbers. Finally, you can type Ctrl+Shift+L to transform all the cursors into selection mode, type n * after for on each line, and press Tab to move to the next cursor, all while only typing the new variable name once and the multiplication expression once.

Conclusion

In this article, we've covered some of the ways in which you can beautify shortcut VS Code using code examples. We hope these examples have inspired you to customize your VS Code experience further and explore more shortcuts and extensions that can boost your productivity and creativity. Remember, the more you optimize your workflow and the more comfortable you are with your tools, the more you can focus on writing great code and solving interesting problems. Happy coding!

let's dive a bit deeper into the previous topics we covered in beautifying shortcuts in VS Code with code examples.

Use the Command Palette

As mentioned earlier, the Command Palette is a powerful tool that helps you execute commands in VS Code quickly and efficiently. In addition, it's customizable, and you can add more commands or modify the existing ones to fit your workflow.

One way to add more functionality to the Command Palette is by installing extensions that provide additional commands or integrate with external tools. For example, the GitLens extension adds several Git-related commands to the Command Palette, such as "Git: Commit" or "Git: Push," which allow you to interact with Git repositories from within VS Code.

Another way to customize the Command Palette is by creating your own commands using the VS Code API. You can create a command that performs a series of actions, such as opening a new file, renaming it, and formatting the document, with a single keyboard shortcut. You can also define when the command should be available, such as only when a certain language or file type is active.

For example, here's a command that opens a new file with a specific name and language:

vscode.commands.registerCommand('extension.newFile', async () => {
  const language = 'javascript'
  const name = 'newFile.js'
  const uri = vscode.Uri.file(name)

  await vscode.workspace.fs.writeFile(uri, Buffer.from(''))
  const document = await vscode.workspace.openTextDocument(uri)
  await vscode.window.showTextDocument(document)
})

This code creates a new command called "extension.newFile" that creates a new empty file with the name "newFile.js" and the language "javascript." It then writes the file to the workspace and opens it in a new text editor. To bind this command to a keyboard shortcut, you can add it to the keybindings.json file in your user settings like this:

{
  "key": "ctrl+n",
  "command": "extension.newFile"
}

Now, every time you press Ctrl+N, VS Code will create a new Javascript file named "newFile.js" and open it in a new editor.

Customize the Tab Behavior

The Tab Behavior in VS Code affects how tabs are displayed and controlled, including their order, width, and visual appearance. To customize this behavior, you can modify the settings in your user preferences.

Some popular settings for the Tab Behavior include:

"workbench.editor.showTabs": false – Hide the tab bar altogether and use only the editor group skills.
"workbench.editor.tabCloseButton": "off" – Hide the close button on tabs to minimize visual clutter.
"workbench.editor.tabSizing": "shrink" – Make tabs resize dynamically based on their content, rather than using a fixed width.
"workbench.editor.tabSortOrder": "mostRecentlyUsed" – Arrange the tabs in order of most recently used, rather than alphabetical or order of opening.

In addition to these settings, you can also use extensions to customize the tab behavior further. For example, the Custom CSS and JS extension allows you to apply custom CSS styles to the VS Code interface, including the tab bar and editor groups.

Create Snippets for Common Tasks

Snippets can save you a lot of typing and reduce errors when coding, especially if you're working in a language with lots of syntax or boilerplate code. You can create your own snippets for commonly used code patterns or install pre-existing snippets from the marketplace.

To create a new snippet, you can define its prefix, body (the code that will be inserted), and optionally a description and scope (which language or file type it's applicable to). Here's an example of a simple HTML snippet that adds a Bootstrap button:

{
  "button": {
    "prefix": "button",
    "body": [
      "<button class=\"btn btn-primary\">${1:Button Text}</button>"
    ],
    "description": "Add a Bootstrap button"
  }
}

This code defines a new snippet called "button" that expands to a HTML button element with the "btn" and "btn-primary" classes from Bootstrap. The snippet has a single placeholder for the button text, which can be modified after insertion. To create this snippet, you can add it to the snippets.json file in your user settings:

{
  "html": {
    "prefix": "html",
    "body": "",
    "description": "HTML language snippets",
    "path": "html.json"
  }
}

Now, every time you type "button" and press Tab, the snippet will expand to the full Bootstrap button code, with the cursor placed inside the ${1:} placeholder for you to edit.

Use Multi-Cursor Editing

Multi-Cursor Editing is a powerful feature in VS Code that allows you to edit multiple lines or selections at once, using multiple cursors that can be synchronized or independent. This feature is especially useful for editing code that follows a repetitive pattern or needs changes to multiple instances simultaneously.

To use multi-cursor editing, you can select a block of code and press Ctrl+Shift+L to create cursors at the end of each line. You can then use the arrow keys or Shift+Alt to move the cursors to the desired location and type in your changes. You can also use the mouse to add or remove cursors, or use the "Toggle Multi-Cursor Modifier" option to change the key that activates multi-cursor editing temporarily.

One of the most powerful aspects of multi-cursor editing is the "Find All" feature, which allows you to select all occurrences of a certain word or phrase and create cursors at each one. For example, if you want to replace all instances of a variable name in a function, you can select the name, press Ctrl+Shift+L, then press Ctrl+F and type the new name. All the cursors will update to reflect the change, and you can hit Enter to apply it.

Conclusion

All of these examples show how to customize your VS Code workflow using code examples. By adding new commands to the Command Palette, changing the tab behavior, creating custom snippets, and using multi-cursor editing, you can make your coding faster, easier, and more pleasant. Try these examples out, experiment with different settings and extensions, and see what works best for you. Happy coding!

beautify shortcut vscode with code examples

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Ahmed Zakaria

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Ahmed Zakaria

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