Debugging is an essential part of the development process, and VS Code offers a robust set of tools to help you find and fix issues in your code. In this tutorial, we'll go over the basics of debugging in VS Code.

Getting Started

Before you can start debugging, you need to have a debug configuration set up. This is done by creating a .vscode/launch.json file in your project directory.

  • Open your project in VS Code.
  • Go to the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS).
  • Type Open Launch JSON and select it.

This will create a launch.json file in your .vscode directory. You can then add a debug configuration for your project.

Basic Debugging Steps

  1. Set Breakpoints: Breakpoints are points in your code where the debugger will pause execution. To set a breakpoint, click in the left margin of the editor where you want the breakpoint to be.

    Set Breakpoint

  2. Start Debugging: With a breakpoint set, you can start debugging by pressing the green play button in the sidebar or by pressing F5.

  3. Step Through Code: Once debugging starts, you can step through your code line by line using the Step Over (F10), Step Into (F11), and Step Out (Shift+F11) commands.

  4. Inspect Variables: During debugging, you can inspect the values of variables by hovering over them in the editor or by opening the Variables pane (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS, then type Variables).

  5. Pause and Resume: If you want to pause the debugger at any point, you can press the pause button in the sidebar. To resume, press the play button again.

Advanced Features

VS Code also offers a variety of advanced debugging features, such as:

  • Conditional Breakpoints: Breakpoints that only trigger under certain conditions.
  • Watch Expressions: Expressions that you can evaluate during debugging.
  • Call Stack: A list of the functions that are currently being executed.
  • Source Maps: Maps that allow you to debug your source code even if you're using minified or transpiled files.

For more information on these features, check out the VS Code Debugging Documentation.

Conclusion

Debugging can be a challenging but rewarding part of the development process. With VS Code's powerful debugging tools, you can efficiently find and fix issues in your code. Happy debugging!