From PyCharm to VS Code

After five years of extensively using PyCharm Professional, I’ve encountered several persistent issues that ultimately led me to switch to VS Code. These include:

Plugin Development and Maintenance: Challenges in developing and maintaining PyCharm plugins.
Performance Issues: Slow operation and excessive resource consumption.
Remote Development Limitations: Weak support for remote development workflows.
AI Extension Bugs: Frequent bugs in AI-powered features.
Critical Bugs: Increasingly severe issues requiring manual deletion of cache and library files to restore functionality.

Given these frustrations, I decided to transition to VS Code. This document outlines the steps I took during the migration from PyCharm to VS Code.

Install

First, download and install VS Code from the official website: https://code.visualstudio.com/.

Tips

If you installed VS Code before, you can move VS Code from Application to trash, and then execute rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code and rm -rf ~/.vscode.

GitHub Copilot

Afterward, when you open VS Code, the tutorial Get started with VS Code will appear. We can refer to the tutorial to complete the configuration of GitHub Copilot.

Tips

You can enter > walkthrough and then select Welcome: Open Walkthrough... to reopen tutorial

Theme

I set GitHub Dark Default as the theme. You can click Browser Color Themes to search it, or enter > theme into the Command Palette and select Preferences: Browse Color Themes in Marketplace.

Extensions

Python
Remote - SSH
Docker
IntelliJ IDEA Keybindings
SQL Database Projects

Settings

Press ⌘ + , to open settings.

Set Files: Auto Save to afterDelay, and the default delay in milliseconds is 1000.
Enable files.trimFinalNewlines
Enable files.insertFinalNewline
Enable files.trimTrailingWhitespace
Set workbench.colorCustomizations

~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json

{
    "github.copilot.nextEditSuggestions.enabled": true,
    "workbench.colorTheme": "GitHub Dark Default",
    "files.autoSave": "afterDelay",
    "files.trimFinalNewlines": true,
    "files.insertFinalNewline": true,
    "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
    "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
        "gitDecoration.modifiedResourceForeground": "#5a9bea",
        "gitDecoration.addedResourceForeground": "#00FF00",
        "gitDecoration.untrackedResourceForeground": "#ff5757",
        "gitDecoration.ignoredResourceForeground": "#e2d227",
        "gitDecoration.conflictingResourceForeground": "#FF69B4",
        "gitDecoration.deletedResourceForeground": "#535151"
    },
    "git.autofetch": true
}

PS: I use ruff to format my code, so I haven't configured the formatter-related features in VS Code.

Keyboard Shotcuts

~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/keybindings.json

// Place your key bindings in this file to override the defaults
[
    {
        "key": "cmd+t",
        "command": "-workbench.action.showAllSymbols"
    },
    {
        "key": "cmd+t",
        "command": "-git.sync",
        "when": "!operationInProgress"
    },
    {
        "key": "cmd+t",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.new",
        "when": "terminalProcessSupported || terminalWebExtensionContributedProfile"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+`",
        "command": "-workbench.action.terminal.new",
        "when": "terminalProcessSupported || terminalWebExtensionContributedProfile"
    },
    {
        "key": "cmd+w",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.chat.close",
        "when": "chatIsEnabled && terminalChatFocus && terminalChatVisible || chatIsEnabled && terminalChatVisible && terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "escape",
        "command": "-workbench.action.terminal.chat.close",
        "when": "chatIsEnabled && terminalChatFocus && terminalChatVisible || chatIsEnabled && terminalChatVisible && terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "delete",
        "command": "-workbench.action.terminal.killActiveTab",
        "when": "terminalHasBeenCreated && terminalTabsFocus || terminalIsOpen && terminalTabsFocus || terminalProcessSupported && terminalTabsFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "cmd+backspace",
        "command": "-workbench.action.terminal.killActiveTab",
        "when": "terminalHasBeenCreated && terminalTabsFocus || terminalIsOpen && terminalTabsFocus || terminalProcessSupported && terminalTabsFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+r",
        "command": "python.execInTerminal-icon"
    },
    {
        "key": "cmd+w",
        "command": "-workbench.action.terminal.killEditor",
        "when": "terminalEditorFocus && terminalFocus && terminalHasBeenCreated || terminalEditorFocus && terminalFocus && terminalProcessSupported"
    },
    {
        "key": "cmd+w",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.kill",
        "when": "terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "cmd+k alt+cmd+s",
        "command": "-git.stageSelectedRanges",
        "when": "editorTextFocus && !operationInProgress && resourceScheme == 'file'"
    },
    {
        "key": "cmd+k cmd+n",
        "command": "-git.unstageSelectedRanges",
        "when": "editorTextFocus && isInDiffEditor && isInDiffRightEditor && !operationInProgress && resourceScheme == 'git'"
    },
    {
        "key": "alt+cmd+z",
        "command": "-git.revertSelectedRanges",
        "when": "editorTextFocus && !editorReadonly && !operationInProgress"
    },
    {
        "key": "cmd+k cmd+r",
        "command": "-git.revertSelectedRanges",
        "when": "editorTextFocus && !operationInProgress && resourceScheme == 'file'"
    },
    {
        "key": "alt+cmd+k",
        "command": "-git.pushTo",
        "when": "!inDebugMode && !operationInProgress && !terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "f4",
        "command": "-git.openFile",
        "when": "config.git.enabled && isInDiffEditor"
    },
    {
        "key": "cmd+k",
        "command": "-git.commitAll",
        "when": "!inDebugMode && !operationInProgress && !terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "alt+cmd+a",
        "command": "git.stage",
        "when": "explorerViewletVisible && filesExplorerFocus && !inputFocus"
    }
]