In the July update, the Project Lombok Java library can be used more extensively under VS Code. There are also innovations for other features such as debugging.
The monthly update for Java on Visual Studio Code has been released. In the July release, Java developers get integrated support for Project Lombok in Visual Studio Code. The new version also offers a drag-and-drop function in the Java Project Explorer and the option to set function breakpoints.
Integration with Project Lombok
Project Lombok is a Java library that can automate logging variables and can be integrated into editors and build tools. The Visual Studio Code team had heard issues in the community dealing with VS Code extensions and Project Lombok. These should now be a thing of the past: With the current release of Java on Visual Studio Code, integrated support for Project Lombok has found its way into the Java extensions. In addition, the Lombok Extension developed by the community will be in the hands of Microsoft, the company behind the open-source editor Visual Studio Code.
(Image: Microsoft)
The new function can be activated as follows: If a new project is opened in VS Code and a dependency on Project Lombok is detected, a notification to activate support appears. After restarting Visual Studio Code, this is activated. Then the current Lombok version and the current status appear in the status bar, from where you can navigate to another version with a click. A version change also requires a restart of the source code editor.
If you do not want to use the integrated support for Project Lombok, you will find the option to deselect it in the settings.
Innovations in the project explorer and function breakpoints
The User Experience (UX) comes up with further new functions in the July release. Among other things, the Java Project Explorer now allows drag and drop. In this way, for example, classes can be transferred from one package to another or one package can be moved into another. According to the VS Code team, it is also possible to drag a JAR file from the operating system directly into the references libraries of a Java project that does not use build tools.
After around three years, the wish from the community to be able to set function breakpoints during debugging was also met. The new function is included in the Extension Pack for Java in version 0.24. The preview extension pack can be downloaded from the Visual Studio Marketplace. The source code editor itself was recently released in version 1.69 and is supposed to offer more help in resolving Git merge conflicts, among other things.
All further information about the July update for Java on Visual Studio Code is described in Microsoft’s developer blog. The Docs provide general information about Java on Visual Studio Code, which is a set of Java extensions for Visual Studio Code.
