Setting Up VSCode for Python Development with Anaconda, Git, and Extensions

First, download and install Anaconda (e.g., to D:\Anaconda3 ) and ensure its D:\Anaconda3 and D:\Anaconda3\Scripts directories are added to the system PATH. Then install Git (default to C:\Program Files\Git ) and VSCode from their official websites.

Familiarize yourself with the VSCode user interface (see screenshot) and learn the universal shortcut Ctrl+Shift+P , which can be customized via File → Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts .

Install useful extensions such as the Chinese (Simplified) language pack, Python, Jupyter, Path Intellisense, vscode-python-docstring, and Settings Sync (which syncs settings via a GitHub Gist, uploaded with Shift+Alt+U ).

After installing the Python extension, open the command palette ( Ctrl+Shift+P ), type “Python: Select Interpreter”, and choose the desired Conda or virtual environment.

To customize VSCode settings, open File → Preferences → Settings , switch to the JSON view, and edit settings.json . Change the integrated terminal from PowerShell to Git Bash by modifying terminal.integrated.shell.windows and terminal.integrated.shellArgs.windows (see screenshot).

Because Bash uses source activate while VSCode may call activate , add the following alias lines to C:\Program Files\Git\etc\bash.bashrc to map the commands:

aliasactivate="$(which activate)" aliasdeactivate="$(which deactivate)"

For advanced debugging, open the folder containing your script with VSCode, select Debug → Add Configuration , which creates a .vscode/launch.json file. The default configuration runs the current file in the integrated terminal; you can modify the program field, add env , envFile , or args entries to set environment variables or command‑line arguments (see example screenshot).

In summary, by installing the necessary tools, configuring VSCode settings, and customizing debugging options, you can create a fast, productive Python development workflow on Windows.