4  Extensions

There are a lot of extensions available in VSCode. You can always install more extensions that we have! We’ve included some that we find make coding in \(\LaTeX\) much easier. These include:

• Azure Repos:
  • Dependency for GitHub extensions.
• Better Comments:
  • Color codes types of comments with symbols at the beginning of each. For example, there are:
    • “*” for highlighting a comment (green)
    • “!” for an alert (red)
    • “?” for a question (blue)
    • “TODO” for a to-do (orange)
    • “//” for a strikethrough
  • You can also customize your own.
• GitHub Copilot:
  • In-line suggestions: Copilot will anticipate what you are about to type. You can accept these suggestions, or keep typing.
• GitHub Copilot Chat:
  • In-line chat: You can use Cmd+I to start an inline chat, where you can ask Copilot to do something for you. One of my favorites is to ask Copilot “Can you write me the outline of a LaTeX document?”
  • Side chat: You can open up a side-pane for a continuous chat with Copilot, much like Chat-GPT. You can ask Copilot to explain things to you, or to make suggestions.
• GitHub Pull Requests and Issues:
  • Allows for a smoother integration of GitHub into VSCode.
• GitHub Repositories:
  • Another extension which helps to integrate your repositories into VSCode.
• indent-rainbow:
  • Highlights vertically along indents, allowing you to see the different levels of structure in your code.
• LaTeX Utilities:
  • Extension pack for LaTeX Workshop. Includes quicker paste options, live snippets, and word count.
• LaTeX Workshop:
  • Includes many features, including snippets, shortcuts, and pdf-viewing.
• Live Preview:
  • Allows you to see HTML previews inside VSCode.
• LTeX - LanguageTool grammar/spell checking:
  • Underlines potential spelling and grammar mistakes.
• Path Autocomplete:
  • Autocompletes paths for files inside your repository.
• R:
  • Allows you to use R in VSCode, with snippets and various viewer options.
• R Debugger:
  • Integrates the debugging process for R into VSCode.
• Rainbow CSV:
  • If you view a CSV file inside VSCode, each variable will be color-coded (for easier viewing)
• Remote Repositories:
  • Dependency for GitHub extensions.
• Settings Cycler:
  • Necessary for using special keyboard shortcuts to toggle settings on/off.
• Toggle:
  • Necessary for using special keyboard shortcuts to toggle settings on/off.
• vscode-icons:
  • Includes additional graphic icons for file types, etc., inside VSCode.
• Word Count:
  • Provides additional word count support for markdown documents.
• Zotero LaTeX:
  • Allows for more smooth integration for Zotero in LaTeX documents.