====== Configuring Visual Studio Code for Arduino development ======

Possible alternative to NetBeans for Arduino development.

<WRAP center round info 60%>
See Microsoft's [[https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vsciot-vscode.vscode-arduino|Arduino for Visual Studio Code]] extension (still in preview as of December 2019) for what might be a better approach.
</WRAP>



===== Needed extension(s) =====

  * Microsoft's [[https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.cpptools|C/C++ for Visual Studio Code]]

===== File associations =====

This may not be needed. But in case ''*.ino'' files aren't automatically or fully interpreted by Code as a C++ file, I added:

<code javascript>
// Files
    // Configure file associations to languages (e.g. "*.extension": "html").
    // These have precedence over the default associations of the languages 
    // installed.
    "files.associations": {
        "*.ino": "cpp"
    },
</code>

to my global ''settings.json'' file.

===== C++ settings =====

==== The settings file ====

Create a ''c_cpp_properties.json'' file inside the project's ''.vscode'' folder by doing one of the following
  * //Ctrl-Alt-P// and //C/Cpp: Edit configurations//.
  * Hover over the light bulb to the left of a green squiggly in an ''#include'' directive and select "Add include to path settings." FIXME: details of what this produces/changes.

Add the following Arduino configuration to ''c_cpp_properties.json'':

<code javascript>
        {
            "name": "Arduino",
            "includePath": [
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/arduino/avr/cores/arduino/",
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/arduino/avr/libraries/EEPROM/",
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/arduino/avr/libraries/SPI/",
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/arduino/avr/libraries/SoftwareSerial/",
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/arduino/avr/libraries/Wire/",
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/tools/avr/avr/include/",
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/tools/avr/avr/include/avr/",
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/tools/avr/avr/include/compat/",
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/tools/avr/avr/include/util/",
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/tools/avr/lib/gcc/avr/4.*.*/include/",
                "{path-to-arduino}/hardware/tools/avr/lib/gcc/avr/4.*.*/include-fixed/"
            ],
            "browse": {
                "limitSymbolsToIncludedHeaders": true,
                "databaseFilename": ""
            }
        }
</code>

Note: the actual list of directories might change. [[arduino:code_completion|Arduino Code Completion Directories]] is more likely to be up to date than the list here.

FIXME: TODO: Standard Arduino libraries (Serial, etc.)
FIXME: TODO: Project-specific libraries
FIXME: TODO: How to do the global configuration per user rather than per project?

==== Select configuration ====

Set the project to the Arduino configuration you added by //Ctrl-Alt-P// and //C/Cpp: Select a configuration//.

===== Build/Run commands =====
FIXME TODO

===== Resources =====

  * [[https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/cpp|C/C++ for VS Code (Preview)]]
  * [[https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/vMarch#_editor|Visual Studio Code March 2016 1.0 release notes]]