How do you set up a Python development environment in Visual Studio Code?

To set up a Python development environment, you can configure VSCode by following these steps.

Step 1: Install VSCode
To begin, you will need to download and install the VSCode editor. You can download the appropriate installation package for your operating system from the official VSCode website (https://code.visualstudio.com/), and then follow the installation wizard to install it.

Step 2: Installing Python Plugin
After opening VSCode, navigate to the sidebar and select “Extensions”. In the search bar, type in “Python” and then choose to install the “Python” plugin.

Step 3: Configure Python interpreter
After installation, click on the “Python” icon in the bottom left corner, select “Python interpreter,” and then choose the Python interpreter you want to use. If Python interpreters are already installed on your computer, they will appear in the list. If they are not installed, you will need to first install a Python interpreter.

Step 4: Create a Python file
In VSCode, click on the “File” menu in the top left corner, select “New File”. Then save the file and use “.py” as the file extension to indicate that it is a Python file.

Step 5: Write Python Code
In the newly created Python file, you can start writing Python code. VSCode offers a range of code editing features, such as code autocomplete and code formatting.

Step 6: Running Python Code
To execute Python code, you can press the F5 key or click on the “Debug” menu in the toolbar, then select “Start Debugging”. VSCode will automatically run your Python code and display the output results in the “Terminal” window.

In this way, you have successfully set up a Python development environment and can now perform Python development in VSCode.