# Install VS Code

[**Visual Studio Code**](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/whyvscode) **(VS Code) is an editor that allows us to create and edit Python scripts that will run on our drone's companion computer, as well as our ground control station computer.**

You can find the download links [here](https://code.visualstudio.com/).

{% hint style="warning" %}
Follow the installer setup, making sure to check the box for "Create a Desktop Icon", "Add 'Open with Code' action to Windows Explorer file context menu", "Register Code as an editor for supported file types", and "Add to PATH (requires shell restart)"
{% endhint %}

**Configure VS Code:**

With VS Code installed, we'll want to install some extensions to help us in our python development.

* If it's not already running, start VS Code
* Once loaded, click the extensions button on the left toolbar (or press Ctrl + Shift + X)

![](https://734487356-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-MObZEFR6zG-gnkxXVBb%2F-MXAJeJVaKNg2RutQ625%2F-MXAQcxWkpsFUuiyeTTU%2Fvscode_extensions_button.JPG?alt=media\&token=3d4810a5-228e-4653-b221-9281d853c8f2)

Search for "Python" and click the green install button next to the Python extension. There's a good chance it's already installed, in which the button will say uninstall (don't click it if that's the case).

![](https://734487356-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-MObZEFR6zG-gnkxXVBb%2F-MXtDG-22jEiyIDERDoD%2F-MXtDr5JGTQ6dcfnvuPw%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=9d737af1-9582-45b9-80d6-f3e448df9af0)

If you see " Select Python Interpreter" in the bottom left of the VS Code window, click it and choose our virtual environment from the list that we created in the [Anaconda ](https://bellflight.gitbook.io/vertical-robotics-competition/hardware/laptop-setup/install-anaconda)tutorial previously.

![](https://734487356-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-MObZEFR6zG-gnkxXVBb%2F-MXtDG-22jEiyIDERDoD%2F-MXtDcWRNYCwLs6QHXGI%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=c97dea88-16ac-44ee-b27b-64f753e0ecbc)

That's it! We can now create Python scripts on our development machine.
