Visual Studio Code March 2021 Highlights
Tags: news, discuss, vscode
Published: 2021-04-08 15:51:55

Visual Studio Code has some major improvements and new features to help us save time. I am attempting to learn new coding skills and updates that can reduce my errors and save me time make me happy. 
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/326ilz9g0bh3xyxla119.jpg)

##**VS Code 1.55 Updates**

•	**Accessibility Improvements**: Multi-cursor support and increased line limit.
•	**Updated Icons for macOS Big Sur**: Brand icons match the Big Sur visual style. 
•	**Improvements to Breakpoints**: Inline breakpoints menu and more.
•	**Editor Status Decorations**: Editor tab status decorations default.
•	**Customize Keyboard Shortcuts Editor**: Columns keyboard shortcuts editor.
•	**Improved Remote Ports Management**: Port forwarding autodetection, regex naming, and more.
•	**Terminal Profiles**: Define profiles in the terminal to launch non-default shells.
•	**Notebook Improvements**: Multiple cell selection and a more customizable editor.
•	**Raspberry Pi**: How to install VS Code on Raspberry Pi devices.


##**ShoutOuts**![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ue3b81885e7ahbtbvwj0.png)
A shout out to a few of my favorite updates:

**All Access Data Breakpoints Type Support**
VS Code's generic debugger UI supports all data breakpoint access types defined in the Debug Adapter Protocol as context menu actions in the VARIABLES view:
•	**Break on Value Read**: breakpoint is hit every time a variable gets read
•	**Break on Value Change**: breakpoint is hit every time a variable gets changed 
•	**Break on Value Access**: breakpoint is hit every time a variable is read or changed.
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/iw3x45kqxu0fyx5w80ol.png)`notebook.diff.ignore output`
**Increased Limit for Screenreader** 
Visual Studio Code has increased the number of lines that a "Say All" command can read. Before this release, there was a 100 line limit. With this release, there is a **1000** line limit that a screen reader can announce at one time. 
The setting `editor.accessibilityPageSize` has been deprecated. VS Code supports this setting, but the plan is to drop this setting in the future entirely.  

**Terminal Profiles**
The terminal supports defined profiles, (see terminals dropdown) to launch non-default shells:
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/utw1928dkm370e3sickx.png) 
VS Code automatically detects and surfaces more commonly used shells through this menu. You can also be configured using the `terminal.integrated.profiles.<platform>` setting to add new profiles, change existing profiles or remove default profiles.

**Improvements to Breakpoints**
The inline menu includes function breakpoints, editing conditions, and hit counts. The flow is much easier with more user control. 
 ![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/jhlruxeai1fd1nvfoizz.png)

**Remote Development**

Feature highlights in 1.55 include:
•	Double-click to name ports
•	Configure default port detection behavior
•	Updated experience for cloning a repository in a container volume

**Faster Snap launch**

The snap package now uses the `lzo` compression algorithm, which provides faster launch times. 

*Notable Fixes*
•	74505: Emmet built-in plugin cheats starting with @ expand only inside blocks
•	97632: Emmet kicks in when editing pure xml documents
•	107506: Debug Variables View does not show multiple variables from Debug Adapter when names are not unique
•	112675: Emmet abbreviations are not working in .scss files
•	113801: Tab wrap - tab should not fill all spare space when wrap to new line
•	115814: Unable to type in Chinese in the integrated terminal
•	117350: Should Home/End, PageUp/PageDown also navigate in actions?
•	117967: Copy + Paste automatically open file in new tab
•	118210: debug console shouldn't collapse messages when they have different source locations
•	118557: Strange behavior of files.exclude in workspace with nested folders
•	118839: My screen reader does not find information about a remote connection in the status bar
•	119585: All problems disappear when closing file

For more information and details, check out the [VS Code 1.55](https://www.https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_55).

What are your favorite enhancements and why?  I need all the tips and tricks can you offer. 
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/u5lf55396xqu8ga29kum.jpg)

Code on!