# VSCode and PlatformIO Setup

This section will discuss setting up your development environment using VSCode and PlatformIO.

VSCode and PlatformIO offer one of the most well-developed and flexible development environments for using Swipechain and IoT. It even has quite a few helpful development plugins as well (linters, git, snippets, etc).

This setup is geared more towards advanced users; those who already know their way around an IDE, have coding experience, a basic understanding of IoT, and want to have more control over their projects.

# VSCode

Visual Studio Code is a lightweight but powerful source code editor which runs on your desktop and is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. It comes with built-in support for JavaScript, TypeScript and Node.js and has a rich ecosystem of extensions for other languages (such as C++, C#, Java, Python, PHP, Go) and runtimes (such as .NET and Unity).

# Requirements

• Operating System:
  • Linux
  • macOS
  • Windows
• Minimum Hardware:
  • 1.6 GHz or faster processor
  • 1 GB of RAM
• Minimum Platforms:
  • OS X Yosemite
  • Windows 7 (with .NET Framework 4.5.2), 8.0, 8.1 and 10 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Linux (Debian): Ubuntu Desktop 14.04, Debian 7
  • Linux (Red Hat): Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, CentOS 7, Fedora 23

    Source: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/requirements

note: While these are the minimum VSCode requirements, a more recent computer will bring the benefit of faster compile times.

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# Install VSCode

You can download VSCode here: 'https://code.visualstudio.com'

This is also a fairly straightforward process and installs like pretty much any other desktop app.

# Linux

Debian & Ubuntu-based systems:

1. Download the code_1.32.x-xxxxxx_amd64.deb package.
2. install using the command line via sudo apt install ./code_1.32.x-xxxxxx_amd64.deb

# macOS

1. Download unzip the VSCode-darwin-stable.zip package.
2. Drag and drop the unzipped 'Visual Studio Code.app' into your 'Applications' folder.

# Windows

1. Download the VSCodeUserSetup-xxx-1.32.x.exe installer.
2. Run the installer (.exe) package

For detailed instructions on installing VSCode for your system:

OS:	Install Guide:
Linux	https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/linux
macOS	https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/mac
Windows	https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/windows

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# PlatformIO

The next-generation integrated development environment for IoT. C/C++ Intelligent code completion and Smart code linter with Built-in Terminal and Serial Port Monitor.

# Requirements

• Operating System:
  • Linux
  • macOS
  • Windows
• Software:
  • Python:

    Python 2.7 is required. PlatformIO does not support Python 3. See detailed instruction how to Install Python Interpreter for Windows.

  • Terminal:

    All commands below should be executed in Command-line application (Terminal). For macOS and Linux OS - Terminal application, for Windows OS – cmd.exe application.

  • Access to Serial Ports (USB/UART): - Windows Users: Please check that you have correctly installed USB driver from board manufacturer - Linux Users: Please install 99-platformio-udev.rules - Raspberry Pi users, please read this article Enable serial port on Raspberry Pi.

    Source: https://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/installation.html#system-requirements

There don't seem to be concrete references to system hardware requirements for PlatformIO, though your system should probably meet the miminum specs for VSCode.

# Install PlatformIO Plugin

1. Open the VSCode Extension Manager.
2. Search for official 'platformio-ide' extension.
3. Install the PlatformIO IDE.

You can also install via Python PIP:

pip install -U platformio

For detailed instructions on advanced PlatformIO installation for your system:

https://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/installation.html