Debug/run standard java in Visual Studio Code IDE and OS X?

Question

Love the light-weight Visual Studio Code in OS X. Have always wanted the ability to write, debug and run standard java (NOT javascript) from VSC in OS X. Found the following

Answer 1

Code Runner Extension will only let you "run" java files.

To truly debug 'Java' files follow the quick one-time setup:

• Install Java Debugger Extension in VS Code and reload.
• open an empty folder/project in VS code.
• create your java file (s).
• create a folder .vscode in the same folder.
• create 2 files inside .vscode folder: tasks.json and launch.json
• copy paste below config in tasks.json:

{
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "type": "shell",
    "presentation": {
        "echo": true,
        "reveal": "always",
        "focus": false,
        "panel": "shared"
    },
    "isBackground": true,
    "tasks": [
        {
            "taskName": "build",
            "args": ["-g", "${file}"],
            "command": "javac"
        }
    ]
}

• copy paste below config in launch.json:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Debug Java",
            "type": "java",
            "request": "launch",
            "externalConsole": true,                //user input dosen't work if set it to false :(
            "stopOnEntry": true,
            "preLaunchTask": "build",                 // Runs the task created above before running this configuration
            "jdkPath": "${env:JAVA_HOME}/bin",        // You need to set JAVA_HOME enviroment variable
            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
            "startupClass": "${workspaceRoot}${file}",
            "sourcePath": ["${workspaceRoot}"],   // Indicates where your source (.java) files are
            "classpath": ["${workspaceRoot}"],    // Indicates the location of your .class files
            "options": [],                             // Additional options to pass to the java executable
            "args": []                                // Command line arguments to pass to the startup class
        }

    ],
    "compounds": []
}

You are all set to debug java files, open any java file and press F5 (Debug->Start Debugging).

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Tip: *To hide .class files in the side explorer of VS code, open settings of VS code and paste the below config:

"files.exclude": {
        "*.class": true
    }

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