Installing VS Code and Extensions

What else is needed?

All the necessary tools have already been installed so we can jump right in to using Helm.

However, it is strongly recommended to not skip this lesson in which we’ll install very helpful tools that will allow us to get better insight into the Kubernetes cluster and assist us in developing Helm charts.

The first and the most important tool is IDE. Theoretically, we could write everything in a simple text editor or directly in the terminal, e.g., using Vim. If you like this approach, go with it. But if you prefer to use more clickable tools, let’s explore.

Most of the time during this course we’ll be able to run all the commands in a web browser. Once we finish it, it’s recommended to use VS Code on a daily basis. It’s a lightweight, highly configurable editor, available on all platforms, and it’s free. Also, it’s very popular nowadays and offers lots of extensions for various software languages.

A possible alternative for VS Code is Intellij IDEA. It’s designed for Java developers, but there is also a paid version, Ultimate Edition, that has lots of useful tools for Kubernetes and Helm. Additionally, it gives helpful hints while writing code.

Install VS Code

1. Regardless of theplatform, please go to the official website and download the preferable installer, as shown in the diagram below.