Visual Studio Code

What is Visual Studio Code?

Visual Studio Code (often abbreviated as VSC) is a coding environment created by Microsoft and is used by millions throughout the world.

Visual Studio Code supports several popular languages such as Java, C#, Python, and more. When you downloaded the modded Visual Studio Code file from WPILIB, you also installed Java and all the necessary components to run a Java program, so you will not have to do anything manual.

Creating a Project for your Robot

Now, let's talk about the icon the blue arrow is pointing at. This icon opens up VSC's Command Palette, a list of different commands and stuff that the user can run to help themselves. This icon may not appear if you don't have any tabs open.

To make code, we first need a project. A project is just a collection of related files that depend on each other to run properly.

Go to the aforementioned Command Palette and click on the icon. You should see this menu popup. Click on WPILib: Create a new project. You might have to scroll down to find it.

Once you find it, click Select a project type (Example or Template) and then click Template. Then, it will ask you to select a coding language for your project, which you'll click Java. It will then ask you for a project type, which you'll select XRP - Command Robot.

Now, you must fill out the text boxes below. Whatever you put for these boxes doesn't really matter, but make sure to check the Enable Desktop Support button.

Good job! You have now made your first XRP project. We will use this project to learn how to code the robot throughout the tutorial.