What is and Why Visual Studio Code? (AutoLISP/VS Code)

Visual Studio Code, commonly referred to as VS Code, is a modern lightweight cross platform source code editor that supports scripting and traditional programming languages.

If you are relatively new to programming, the development environment that VS Code offers is streamlined and focused on the tasks of developing and debugging applications. Based on the programming languages you choose to work with, you will want to install one or more extensions specific to those languages. Extensions are used to instruct VS Code on how it should implement programming language specific behavior, such as how the source code for an application should be formatted in the editor or how it can be debugged. Most extensions can be installed from the VS Code Marketplace, but they can also be installed manually from an extension (VSIX) file. You can learn more about VS Code by visiting the Documentation for Visual Studio Code page on Microsoft’s website.

Note: While VS Code is an open source cross platform program that is built by many different vendors, currently only the Microsoft version of VS Code is officially supported by Autodesk for use with the AutoCAD AutoLISP Extension.

Autodesk is taking advantage of this cross platform development tool for AutoLISP programming to replace the obsolete Visual LISP Integrated Development Environment (VL IDE) that was previously available on Windows only. Starting with AutoCAD 2021, the AutoCAD program supports AutoLISP programming development using VS Code with the AutoCAD AutoLISP Extension.

Note: If you are using AutoCAD on Windows, VS Code can be launched with the VLISP command.

The AutoCAD AutoLISP Extension allows you to:

• Create and edit AutoLISP source (LSP) files
• Manage LSP files with AutoLISP project (PRJ) files
• Format AutoLISP statements
• Autocomplete function names and insert code snippets
• Add line and block comments
• Attach to AutoCAD and debug an AutoLISP file with the AutoLISP Debug Adapter

Note: The VL IDE is an obsolete technology and might be removed in a future release. It is recommended to transition from the VL IDE for AutoLISP development to VS Code and the AutoCAD AutoLISP Extension.