How to use octave in vscode?

Question

How can I create and debug octave programs in Visual Studio Code? Please provide details regarding Path settings etc.

I'm taking Andrew Ng's course on Machine learning in which he suggests octave as the language for beginners, will octave be useful later on for purposes other than purely academic learning? Can I create machine learning algorithms using octave?

Answer 1

Press Cmd+Shift+P (or Ctrl+Shift+P) and search for "Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)". Then add the following entry to the settings file:

"terminal.integrated.env.windows": {
    "PATH": "C:\\Octave\\Octave-5.2.0\\mingw64\\bin"
  }

Then you'll be able to type "octave" in the terminal to access the octave shell

Note: "C:\Octave\Octave-5.2.0\mingw64\bin" is the path where octave is installed for me

Answer 2

Under settings add this to the terminal shell settings in vscode

"terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Octave\\Octave-5.2.0\\mingw64\\bin\\octave-gui.exe"

This is the default installation location . Add the location where you have installed octave.

Answer 3

VS Code has plugins for working with Octave, available on the VS Code Marketplace.

For running and debugging Octave code inside VS Code, try the Octave Debugger plugin.

For syntax highlighting and file structure recognition, try the Octave plugin from Toasty Technologies or (shameless plug) my own Octave Hacking plugin.