The Best VS Code Extensions for Anyone Working in Ruby

Better tooling, better programming

One of the things that makes VS Code super brilliant is the ability to install extensions that further give it more capability. So let’s dive into it. I assume you already have VS Code. If not, install it — it runs on any operating system you’re using, so you’ll be fine.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll be using four VS Code extensions, and they all work seamlessly together to supercharge you IDE and Ruby coding experience.

Ruby by Peng Lv

This extension provides Ruby language and debugging support for VS Code.

Features

• Automatic Ruby-environment detection with support for RVM, rbenv, chruby, and asdf
• Lint support via RuboCop, Standard, and Reek
• Format support via RuboCop, Standard, Rufo, and RubyFMT
• Semantic code-folding support
• Semantic highlighting support
• Basic Intellisense support

Installation

Search for ruby in the VS Code Extension Gallery, and install it.

This Ruby extension depends on our next extension (you’ll have noticed that from the feature list).

2. Ruby RuboCop by misogi

This extension provides interfaces to RuboCop for VS Code. RuboCop is a code analyzer for ruby.

Before we configure RuboCop, it’s good to get the background understanding of what powers it behind the scenes.

“RuboCop is a Ruby static code analyzer and code formatter. Out of the box it will enforce many of the guidelines outlined in the community Ruby Style Guide.”

— RuboCop documentation

The Ruby Style Guide is a document every new Rubyist should check out. It’s like the Ten Commandments and will help you speak like the locals while learning the new language. It enables you to write Ruby code like the…