Visual Studio code (VScode) is the cross-platform Chromium-based code editor is being open sourced today by Microsoft. How do I install Microsoft Visual Studio Code on a Debian or Ubuntu or Fedora Linux desktop?
Visual Studio supports debugging Linux apps and code editor now open source by Microsoft. It is a preview (beta) version but you can test it and use it on your own Linux based desktop.
### Why use Visual Studio Code? ###
From the project website:
> Visual Studio Code provides developers with a new choice of developer tool that combines the simplicity and streamlined experience of a code editor with the best of what developers need for their core code-edit-debug cycle. Visual Studio Code is the first code editor, and first cross-platform development tool - supporting OS X, Linux, and Windows - in the Visual Studio family. If you use Unity, ASP.NET 5, NODE.JS or related tool, give it a try.
### Requirements for Visual Studio Code on Linux ###
1. Ubuntu Desktop version 14.04
1. GLIBCXX version 3.4.15 or later
1. GLIBC version 2.15 or later
The following installation instructions are tested on:
1. Fedora Linux 22 and 23
1. Debian Linux 8
1. Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS
### Download Visual Studio Code ###
Visit [this page][1] to grab the latest version and save it to ~/Downloads/ folder on Linux desktop:
![Fig.01: Download Visual Studio Code For Linux](http://s0.cyberciti.org/uploads/faq/2015/11/download-visual-studio-code.jpg)
Fig.01: Download Visual Studio Code For Linux
Make a new folder (say $HOME/VSCode) and extract VSCode-linux-x64.zip inside that folder or in /usr/local/ folder. Unzip VSCode-linux64.zip to that folder.
Make a new folder (say $HOME/VSCode) and extract VSCode-linux-x64.zip inside that folder or in /usr/local/ folder. Unzip VSCode-linux64.zip to that folder.
### Alternate install method ###
You can use the wget command to download VScode as follows:
![Fig.02: VSCode downloaded to my ~/Downloads/ folder](http://s0.cyberciti.org/uploads/faq/2015/11/list-vscode-linux.jpg)
Fig.02: VSCode downloaded to my ~/Downloads/ folder
Unzip VSCode-linux64.zip in /usr/local/ directory, enter:
$ sudo unzip VSCode-linux64.zip -d /usr/local/
Cd into /usr/local/ to create the soft-link as follows using the ln command for the Code executable. This is useful to run VSCode from the terminal application:
$ su -
# cd /usr/local/
# ls -l
# cd bin/
# ln -s ../VSCode-linux-x64/Code code
# exit
Sample session:
![Fig.03 Create the sym-link with the absolute path to the Code executable](http://s0.cyberciti.org/uploads/faq/2015/11/verify-and-ln-vscode.jpg)
Fig.03 Create the sym-link with the absolute path to the Code executable
### How do I use VSCode on Linux? ###
Open the Terminal app and type the following command:
$ /usr/local/bin/code
Sample outputs:
![Fig.04: VSCode in action on Linux](http://s0.cyberciti.org/uploads/faq/2015/11/vscode-welcome.jpg)
Fig.04: VSCode in action on Linux
And, there you have it, the VSCode installed and working correctly on the latest version of Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora Linux. I suggest that you read [getting started pages from Microsoft][2] to understand the core concepts that will make you more productive writing and navigating your code.