If you are using the client-side development paradigm (i.e. editing code in local files that get imported and compiled onto the IRIS server your `objectscript.conn` settings point to) you can now use IPM in VS Code to manage the packages in your IRIS target by launching it from the Explorer view.

Please allow me to introduce you to a new way of interacting with IPM (InterSystems Package Manager), also known as ZPM, directly from inside Visual Studio Code.

Until a couple of days ago the most downloaded bookmark extension for VS Code, Bookmarks by Alessandro Fragnani, wasn't able to handle the isfs file references that the InterSystems ObjectScript extension uses when you are operating in a Studio-like way and editing classes & routines directly in a namespace.

For several years now Visual Studio Code has supported the notebook coding paradigm with a maturing UX and an API that is enabling a notebook extensions ecosystem to grow. One of the best-known notebook platforms is Jupyter Notebooks. A Microsoft team publishes an extension that allows VS Code to handle .ipynb notebook files. These can either work against a local Python environment or connect to a Jupyter Server, which typically hosts remote Python environments with beefier resources.

What if your InterSystems IRIS environments, whether local on your workstation or remote in your organization / cloud, could operate as Jupyter Servers? And not only for Embedded Python but also for ObjectScript and SQL

"If we build it, will they come?"

Our gj :: codeSpex extension for VS Code, which is part of the DX Jetpack, allows documentation to be displayed inline while you are coding classes. In some cases the documentation is extensive, and the lack of scrolling support in the VS Code comment element we are using was degrading the DX.

I just released an update of the gj :: codeSpex extension containing a new feature - Exclusions.

Coming up on Thursday March 3rd, VS Code Day 2022, the second official Visual Studio Code event from Microsoft.

Join the Visual Studio Code team and community at a live event just for VS Code users. Get a glimpse of things to come and meet the team who works on VS Code every day.

Starts 8am PST and runs for 90 minutes.

https://code.visualstudio.com/vscode-day/

I'm pleased to announce a major release of the InterSystems Server Manager extension. It has gained a UI!

Read more at Open Exchange.

Right now version 2.0 is like an aircraft at the start of the runway (remember those days before COVID-19?), waiting for the control tower to give final clearance. Will you be an early adopter, downloading the VSIX from GitHub, installing it into your VS Code, and posting back here to confirm that we haven't left anything critical behind at the gate? Then I'll push the throttles forward, publish to Marketplace, and we'll all be on our way.

Server Manager 2.0 is my entry for the current contest. If you like it maybe you'll vote for me it.