Visual Studio Code 1.78 debuts profile templates for Python, Java, Angular

Visual Studio Code 1.78, also known as the April 2023 release of Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code source code editor, introduces built-in profile templates for Python and Java as well as new color themes.

Released May 3, Visual Studio Code 1.78 can be downloaded  from visualstudio.com for Windows, Linux, and Mac.

Profile templates in VS Code 1.78 serve as curated profiles for different languages and scenarios, allowing developers to customize VS Code for specific workflows. Templates are available for Python, Java, data science, Node.js, and Angular. Also featured in the update are new default color themes, with Dark Modern and Light Modern replacing Dark+ and Light+.

Other new features and improvements in Visual Studio Code 1.78:

• The old diff algorithm is being deprecated. The new diff algorithm produces better diffs in many cases but might be slower for some documents. While the old algorithm remains the default for the diff editor, plans call for slowly changing the default to the new algorithm and measuring its performance.
• The js/ts.implicitProjectConfig.strictNullChecks setting can be used to enable strict nulls for JavaScript in HTML blocks.
• Users now can launch a standalone color picker in order to insert and replace colors.
• Continuous Run now can be turned on for individual tests.
• Videos can be dragged and dropped into Markdown files.
• Developers now can drag and drop image files into Markdown cells of notebooks to create attachments.
• TypeScript 5.1 is supported. This version of TypeScript currently is in a beta state.
• The inline completion feature has been rewritten and bugs fixed. An Accept Line command has been added, and Accept Word now works across lines.
• Code Actions and Quick Fixes now are supported in the Source Control message box.
• A new snippet variable, CURRENT_TIMEZONE_OFFSET, returns the current timezone offset in the format +HHMM or -HHMM.
• Screen reader users can exclude hints from a feature’s aria-label to decrease redundancy via the "accessibility.verbosity.diff-editor" and "accessibility.verbosity.terminal" settings. New audio cues also are supported.
• VS Code for the Web now supports committing files to Git Large File Storage (LFS) in repositories hosted on GitHub.

Predecessor VS Code 1.77, released March 30, previewed deeper integration with the GitHub Copilot AI coding assistant.