VS Code 1.39: September release adds workbench and UI updates

Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code remains a fan favorite for code editing. According to the results of the Stack Overflow 2019 developer survey, it is currently the most popular development environment, beating out big names like IntelliJ and Vim. When we interviewed Erich Gamma, Microsoft Distinguished Engineer back in 2016, he stated: “Our goal is quite simple: We want VS Code to become the most popular code editor”. Achievement reached!

It’s that time of the month again; time to check up on Visual Studio Code and see all the latest offerings. Let’s dive into the changelog and see what’s new this month, as well as take a brief trip through the marketplace and see some new community-created themes.

Version 1.39 updates

1.39.1 fixes these security issues, listed in GitHub.

View the full release notes and see all the new changes. Below are some of the highlights.

📢 The September release is here 🎉 Easily toggle code folding, updated source code control view, editor selection in minimap, and more!

See whats new: https://t.co/GHgH35S324 pic.twitter.com/J4R7uPVbQd

— Visual Studio Code (@code) October 9, 2019

Expand & collapse folding region

The Toggle Fold command (Ctrl+K Ctrl+L) can expand and collapse a folding region.

Simplified trusted domains management

The new command Manage Trusted Domains allows users to add, remove, and modify trusted outgoing domains as a JSON text file.

Easily add to the list of trusted domains. Source.

SCM tree view

The updated SCM view supports rendering changes as a tree.

CSS color previews

SEE ALSO: VS Code extension for MicroProfile Starter unveiled

Preview the color string of an original variable when completing CSS variables.

CSS property completion

Now, CSS property completion adds a semicolon at the end of the line with Ctrl+Enter on Windows (Cmd+Enter on macOS). This creates a new line without having to push the ending , to a new line.

Column breakpoints update

Improved column breakpoint UI allows you to place a breakpoint more accurately. Users can interact with and enable/disable inline breakpoints with a simple click.

TypeScript 3.7-beta support

Once TypeScript 3.7 is officially released, VS Code will ship with it bundled. Until then, it already supports the features introduced in TypeScript 3.7-beta, such as two new settings for semicolon control.

Visual/UI updates

This release comes packaged with a few UI updates including:

• Improved monospace typeface in suggestions and hover widgets gives a more consistent appearance.
• The Octicons receive a refresh to match the new icon style. (Do you love or hate the new icon style? Is it taking some time to get used to?) A user opened an issue on GitHub regarding the new icons – can you help?
• Now, the VS Code website and documentation also received a refresh with new icons and updated colors.
• Updated Japanese font changes saves horizontal space with improved, slimmer kana characters.

Latest community-created themes

While we are here, let’s take a gander at some themes the community added to the VS Code marketplace this month. Why not try out a fresh new look?

What’s your favorite theme?

Dracula for Visual Studio Code

This dark theme is a fan favorite for over 50 apps. including Atom, Xcode, and Slack. Get a little spooky this month and try it out.

Dracula dark theme. Source.

Kawaii theme

Go for something a little cuter with the sweet Kawaii theme for VS Code.

Pretty in pink with the kawaii theme. Source.