Local development Environment

In this step you are going to install Docker, VS Code, and setup a DevContainer for your project.

Install Docker

Docker Desktop for Windows & Mac
Docker for Linux

MacOS and Windows should install Docker Desktop. Follow the instructions for MacOS or Windows

Verify your docker installation by running:

docker --version

Install Visual Studio Code

Install Visual Studio Code via your preferred option, such as the Webpage or a package manager. Verify your installation by opening Visual Studio Code.

Create a simple DevContainer

Open the command palette in Visual Studio Code by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on MacOS.
Type Dev Container: Add Dev Container Configuration Files... and select it.
- Hint the search is fuzzy, so you can type dev add and it should show up.
When selecting the template, choose Ubuntu, with the default settings.
Select the features you need, for example Python, and press OK
- You can select Keep Defaults in don’t need a certain version or extra features & tools.
Done!

You should now see a .devcontainer folder in your project with a devcontainer.json file.

// For format details, see https://aka.ms/devcontainer.json. For config options, see the
// README at: https://github.com/devcontainers/templates/tree/main/src/ubuntu
{
  "name": "Ubuntu",
  // Or use a Dockerfile or Docker Compose file. More info: https://containers.dev/guide/dockerfile
  "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:jammy",
  "features": {
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/python:1": {}
  }

  // Features to add to the dev container. More info: https://containers.dev/features.
  // "features": {},

  // Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
  // "forwardPorts": [],

  // Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
  // "postCreateCommand": "uname -a",

  // Configure tool-specific properties.
  // "customizations": {},

  // Uncomment to connect as root instead. More info: https://aka.ms/dev-containers-non-root.
  // "remoteUser": "root"
}

A popup should appear asking you to reopen the project in the DevContainer. Click Reopen in Container. If not, open the command palette and type Dev Container: Reopen in Container.

Verify that you are in the DevContainer by opening a terminal in Visual Studio Code and running:

python --version

You should see the Python version installed in the DevContainer:

vscode ➜ /workspaces/python-gh-actions $ python --version
Python 3.10.12