Getting Started with Code for IBM i: A Lunch & Learn Video
On October 29, 2025, Alan teamed up with Susan Gantner and Jon Paris for an educational Lunch & Learn focused on two timely IBM i development topics: VS Code for i and RPG arrays.
VS Code for IBM i: Profiles [Video]
Returning with a new episode in his Getting Started with Code for i video series, IBM Champion Patrick Behr now focuses on how to set up profiles.
Profiles let you define different library lists and filters based on what you’re working on. They give you one-click access between, for example, production and test environments, accounting and warehouse applications, or whatever you need to need to do next.
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.)
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.
VS Code for IBM i Repositories
Those 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.
Debug RPGLE and COBOL with VS Code for IBM i
Updated July 14, 2025
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
Visual 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.
Code for IBM i: Project Mode
Visual 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.
VS Code for IBM i: A Resource Guide
UPDATED 11/18/2025
VS 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.
Update: Code for IBM i Language Tools
Code 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.