VS Code for IBM i: Filters [Video]

In Episode 2 of his Getting Started with VS Code for IBM i series for RPG and COBOL developers, Patrick Behr shows us several ways to efficiently filter and find IBM i source physical file members using Code for i’s Object Browser. (You’ll find Episode 1 here.)

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Code for IBM i Fridays: A Free Seiden Community Event

December 2024 Update

You’ll find up-to-date information on Code for i Fridays—such as the next meeting date and highlights of past meetings—on this page.

The Code for i extension to Visual Studio Code (VS Code) has become ever more popular and powerful. It’s also free and open source.

Seiden Group has been hosting online gatherings to share, learn, solve problems, and contribute improvements to Code for i. Hosted by Alan Seiden, the meetings often include guests such as Liam Allan, the originator of Code for i.

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VS Code for IBM i Repositories

VS Code for iThose of us who help support Code for i, the popular IDE for IBM i based on VS Code, often need to look at the code that makes it work.

Fully open source, the code that runs Code for i is available on Github repositories. From there, the code can be viewed and even enhanced by the public.

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Debug RPGLE and COBOL with VS Code for IBM i

Our Twitter feeds recently rang out with this long-awaited news from Liam Allan:

“Debugging ILE COBOL and RPGLE inside @code like it’s any other day! I’m pumped for this release #ibmi.”

As reported by Alex Woodie in IBM i Debugger Comes to VS Code, IBM decoupled their RPG/COBOL debugger from RDi after years of encouragement from Liam. It’s now available as a Debug Service to the thousands of IBM i developers who have downloaded Visual Studio Code for IBM i. Read more

Edit IFS Files Using Visual Studio Code for IBM i

Code for IBM iVisual Studio Code (VS Code) is a lightweight source code editor that runs on multiple desktops, including Windows, Linux, and MacOS. It provides built-in support for PHP, Node.js, Python, and many other languages and runtimes.

Halcyon Tech’s Code for IBM i extension adds the ability to edit IBM i Integrated File System (IFS) files inside VS Code. It’s easy to get set up to access and edit IFS-based code using this popular editing tool.

In just seven quick steps, you can install VS Code and its Code for IBM i extension and begin working with IFS files stored on your IBM i.

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Code for IBM i: Project Mode

Code for IBM iVisual Studio Code for IBM i recently acquired a series of enhancements that greatly enrich the RPGLE developer experience.

Known as Project Mode, the new features allow RPGLE developers to easily navigate their code — and understand it — all while editing remotely in the IDE. They can now find all references to definitions, find definitions of all references, and go to the implementation of export procedures without leaving the editor.

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VS Code for IBM i: A Resource Guide

UPDATED 2/5/2025

Code for IBM iVS Code for IBM i offers an alternative to RDi, the fee-based graphical IDE for IBM i, and SEU, the native green-screen IDE. It’s faster than RDi and easier to learn than either RDi or SEU. It supports development in RPGLE, COBOL, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Node.js, etc. Liam Allan’s Code for IBM i 2024 review updates us on the state of the open source project.

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Update: Code for IBM i Language Tools

Code for IBM iCode for IBM i and its RPGLE language tools have come a long way! I am excited to share some of the language tools improvements with you today. They are absolutely worth talking about. Language tools are what makes writing code fun and exciting, and we can be better developers with them.

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Visual Studio Code and 5250

With our latest version of Code for IBM i, developers have access to virtually everything they need when writing both RPG and open source applications, all in a single editor.

This blog post covers the two types of terminals available: a PASE shell, enhanced in 0.84 for faster launch, and a 5250 terminal.

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RPGLE Linting and Content Assist with VS Code for IBM i

vscode-rpgle extensionA great IDE contains features that increase your coding speed and accuracy so you can focus on your program’s logic. One of my favorite productivity enhancers, content assist, has been bundled in Visual Studio Code for IBM i since its inception. Content assist gives you autocomplete options for code as you write it, reducing syntax errors.

Today we’re announcing a new killer productivity tool for Code for IBM i—a built-in linter!

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