Python in Visual Studio Code – June 2020 Release

We are pleased to announce that theJune2020release of the Python Extension for Visual Studio Code is now available. You candownload the Python extensionfrom theMarketplace,orinstall it directly from the extension gallery in Visual Studio Code. If you already have the Python extension installed, you can also get the latest update by restarting Visual Studio Code. You can learn more about Python support in Visual Studio Codein the documentation.

In this release weworked on new features such as run by line and a start page,in addition to addressing53issues.If youre interested, you can check thefull list of improvements inourchangelog.

RunByLine

Were excitedthat inthisrelease, were introducing run-by-line, a simplifiedway for troubleshootingissuesinNotebookcells. To helpdiagnose yourNotebook code,run-by-linelets you step through the code in your cellsinline-by-linefashionand view the state of yourvariablesateachstep via the variable explorer or data tips(hovering your mouse over the variable).

To startasession, click therun-by-line icon to the right of the run-cell icon in the cell. Once in a run-by-line session, you canrun the currently highlighted line of codeby pressing thesameicon again. To exit, click the stop button next tothe run-by-lineicon in the cell.

[Line by line execution of a Jupyter Notebooks cell ]

Were shipping the feature as experimental in this release.To try it out,addthe followingline to your User settings (View>Command Paletteand run Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)):

"python.experiments.optInto":["RunByLine- experiment"]

Afterwards, reloadthe window (View > CommandPaletteand run Developer: Reload Window).

Python Start Page

The start page brings all themost commonactions for the Python extension to an easily accessible page.Itwillhighlightour monthly release notes so you can keep up to date about all ourlatest features,changesandtutorials(for example our tutorial for data sciencehttps://code.visualstudio.com/docs/python/data-science-tutorial), andshowcase featuresin our sample notebook.You can access the page anytime through theOpen Start Page command(View > Command Palette and run Python: Open Start Page). In future releases this page will start automatically launching for anyone who newly downloads the extension or anytime there is an extension update.

[Start Page of the Python extension]

Join us onDiscord!

The Python at Microsoft team has a discord channel and you can join us on the VS Code tab to chat about all things related to the Python in VS Code! Interested? Join us through thisinvite link.

Other Changes and Enhancements

We have also added small enhancements and fixed issues requested by users that should improve your experience working with Python inVisualStudio Code. Some notable changes include:

• Removedpython.jediEnabledsetting in favor ofpython.languageServer. (#7010)
• Preliminary support using other languages for theJupyterkernel. (#11919)
• Ensure sorting imports in a modified file picks up the proper configuration.(thanksPeter Law!) (#4891)
• Made the variable explorer resizable. (#5283)
• Fixedissue with formatting when the first line is blank. (#11416)

Were constantlyA/B testingnew features. If you see something different that was not announced by the team, you may be part of the experiment! To see if you are part of an experiment, you can check the first lines in the Python extension output channel. If you wish to opt-outofA/B testing, you can open the usersettings.jsonfile (View>Command Palette…and runPreferences: Open Settings (JSON))and set the “python.experiments.enabled” setting tofalse.

Be sure to download the Python extension forVisualStudio Code now to try out the above improvements.If you run into any problemsor have suggestions,please file an issueon the Python VS Code GitHub page.