Visual Studio Code in Introductory Computer Science Course: An Experience Report

Understand

Involving integrated development environments (IDEs) in introductory-level (CS1) programming courses is critical.

• However, it is difficult for instructors to find a suitable IDE that is beginner friendly and supports strong functionality.
• In this paper, we report the experience of using Visual Studio Code (VS Code) in a CS1 programming course.
• We describe our motivation for choosing VS Code and how we introduce it to students.