EruditeWBT Course Editors and IDEs
Daily workflow

Your editor is where terminal, code, Git, and projects start working together.

A coding editor is not just a place to type text. It is your project cockpit: files on the left, code in the middle, terminal at the bottom, Git changes on the side, and debugging when things go wrong. For most beginners, VS Code is the best first editor because it grows with you without forcing a heavy IDE too early.

Mental model

Editor vs IDE

Editor

Fast, flexible, good for general coding, notes, web files, scripts, and multi-language work.

VS Code Sublime Text Notepad++

IDE

Heavier, more guided, often built for larger project ecosystems like Java, Android, C#, or complex Flutter work.

Visual Studio Android Studio PyCharm
Recommendation Start with VS Code plus the integrated terminal. Add heavier IDEs only when a project path actually needs them.
Hands-on

Activity 1: Open a real project folder

  1. Create a folder called editor-practice.
  2. Open VS Code.
  3. Use File -> Open Folder and open editor-practice.
  4. Create 3 files: README.md, notes.txt, and hello.py.
  5. Open the integrated terminal and run dir in PowerShell or ls in bash.
# hello.py
print("Hello from inside my editor")

Run it from the integrated terminal:

python hello.py
Starter setup

What to configure first

Theme and font size

Make your screen readable. Comfortable reading beats fancy appearance.

Integrated terminal

Use PowerShell on Windows, bash/zsh on Linux/macOS, and keep terminal + code in one window.

Auto save

Turn on auto save so file changes are less likely to disappear.

Format on save

Especially useful for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, and Python once formatters are installed.

Source control view

Use the Git sidebar to see which files changed before you commit.

Extensions

Install only what supports your current path, not every extension you can find.

Useful first extensions

Keep it simple

Python for running and debugging Python files.
Prettier for formatting HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Markdown.
ESLint when you begin serious JavaScript or TypeScript work.
GitLens later, when you need more Git visibility.
Debugging starter idea

When code does not run

1 Read the error message fully.
2 Check the file name and current folder.
3 Confirm the tool is installed, for example python --version.
4 Run the smallest possible test file, not the entire project.

Next step

Terminal hands-on Git hands-on Programming languages overview Move into starter builds