October 2022 release of Microsoft’s code editor also features auto-updates for Markdown links, new Python extensions, Dev Container templates, and more. Credit: Harry Metcalfe Visual Studio Code 1.73, a just-released update to Microsoft’s popular code editor, adds improvements ranging from Command Center mode shortcuts to new merge editor features and new Python extensions. Also dubbed the October 2022 release of the editor, VS Code 1.73 was announced on November 2, 2022. For the Command Center, a top section was added with the intention of making it easy to discover how to navigate to files, run commands, and perform other operations. A short list of modes provides keybinding hints for users to jump directly to the most-used modes, such as Go to File, without going through the Command Center. The merge editor, meanwhile, received polishing as well as bug fixes and new features. In VS Code 1.73, both Accept Incoming and Accept Current can always be selected. When both options are taken, the merge editor appends corresponding changed lines. Also, the merge editor’s default diff algorithm was changed. The new algorithm is optimized for merge scenarios. VS Code 1.73, which follows last month’s VS Code 1.72 release, can be downloaded for Windows, macOS, or Linux from the Visual Studio Code webpage. Other features of VS Code 1.73 include the following: When right-clicking a folder in the Search view’s tree view of results, there now are two new options in the context menu. Restrict Search to Folder adds the selected folder path or paths to the “files to include” textbox, while Exclude Folder from Search adds the selected folder or paths to the “files to exclude” textbox. A Settings Profiles capability is available in preview. A new markdown.updateLinksOnFileMove.enabled setting will automatically update links and images in Markdown when files are moved or renamed in the Visual Studio Code Explorer. Markdown: Insert Link to File in Workspace and Markdown: Insert Image from Workspace commands let developers quickly insert links and images into Markdown by using a file picker. Also, built-in Markdown validation can alert users to unused or duplicate link definitions. A better-maintained Razor grammar for syntax highlighting is featured for Razor files. Remote Development extensions now include Dev Container Templates, allowing developers to create a Dev Container based on an existing template. New audio cues help with Tasks and the Terminal, sounding for a task completed, for a task failed, and when a Terminal Quick Fix is available. For VS Code for the Web, committing to a protected branch in GitHub or Azure Repos will trigger notifications that the current branch is protected, and prompt developers to create a new branch. New standalone extensions for Python are offered for isort, Pylint, and Flake8. TypeScript 4.9 support is included as a preview. Development ToolsSoftware Development