TechStep Labs for VS Code

Write your TechStep programming labs in VS Code.

1. On a lab's page on TechStep, press Start the lab in VS Code (or Open in VS Code once it is started).
2. VS Code asks whether this extension may open the link. Allow it.
3. The lab's folder appears inside your TechStep folder, with one file per task and Lab sheet.pdf. Where the questions are depends on the lab:
   • Questions in the files: each question is a comment at the top of its task file. The task file is in front and Lab sheet.pdf is a tab behind it.
   • Questions on the Lab sheet: Lab sheet.pdf opens first and in front, in TechStep's own viewer, and holds every question. Your task files are tabs after it, each with one line at the top that names the task, such as "Task 1: Reverse a word — full question in Lab sheet.pdf". Your instructor may give you their own file as the Lab sheet; it is shown as it is. The sheet is kept on your computer, so it opens without a connection after the first time. Reopen it from the TechStep menu in the status bar, or the book icon in the TechStep side bar.
4. Write your code. Each time you save a file, your code is saved to TechStep.
5. When every task has your code, submit from the button above the file or from the TechStep view in the side bar. Tests are then run on your code on TechStep, and your score appears once your instructor has confirmed it.

The extension gives you the files and nothing else. It has no tests for you to run and no help with the code.

If your browser cannot open VS Code, copy the link from the lab page and run TechStep: Open a lab from a link from the Command Palette.

What the extension can reach

Pressing "Open in VS Code" gives the extension a key to that one attempt at that one lab. With it the extension can read the lab's files, save your code for it, send the reports below and submit it, and nothing else: not your account, your marks or any other lab. The key is kept in VS Code's secret storage, and stops working when you submit, when the lab closes, or after 14 days.

The extension only talks to the TechStep sites listed in the techstep.trustedSites setting, and asks you before adding one.

Where your code runs

The extension runs nothing. Your code is run and marked on TechStep, after you submit. You can still run your own file yourself, in a terminal, as with any file on your computer.

What is reported to your instructor (privacy)

TechStep records how your code is written so your instructor can see your process.

While you work on a lab or practice here, the extension sends TechStep, with your work:

1. Which AI coding tools from TechStep's list are installed and switched on in this VS Code, when you open the lab and when you submit.
2. Each change you make to the lab's files, with its time, and which insertions were pasted (an insertion whose text matches your clipboard), so your instructor can replay how your code was written. It also notes when a lab file changes outside VS Code.

It does not record your other extensions, your other files, or anything you type outside the lab's files. Changes are sent each time you save and before you submit; if you are offline they wait on this computer and go with the next save. Only your instructors can see them, they cannot be changed once sent, and they do not change your mark by themselves. For practice, nothing of this is kept. The AI tools and large insertions are listed in the TechStep view, under "Reported to your instructor". You are asked to agree before your first lab opens. TechStep labs are written in VS Code with this extension, so if you do not agree the lab does not open: speak to your instructor.

Setup, the status bar and help (0.8.0)

• TechStep: Check my setup (Command Palette) shows your VS Code version, this extension's version, whether a lab is open and signed in, and whether the lab's language is installed (it only asks the program for its version), each with a ✓ or a download link. It is offered once, the first time a lab of a language opens, if that language is missing.
• The status bar shows the lab, how long is left, and Saved ✓, Uploading… or Offline - will upload later. Click it for the lab's page, Check my setup and What TechStep records.
• TechStep: What TechStep records shows the privacy notice, in the same words as the lab's page and this README.
• Get started with TechStep Labs is a walkthrough that opens the first time the extension runs (Command Palette: Welcome: Open Walkthrough).
• If TechStep says Update the TechStep extension, this version is older than the site accepts: update it, then open the lab again.

Setup check, fixes (0.9.0)

• Old Java (Java 8) is now named: "Java 8 found - this lab needs Java 17 or newer", with the download link, instead of "not found". Python 2 is told the same way.
• A runtime installed but not yet seen by VS Code (found through JAVA_HOME or the usual install folders) says to restart the computer.
• The status bar shows for any lab file open in VS Code, including tabs restored after a restart.

The lab folder is the workspace (0.15.0)

• Opening a lab opens its folder as the VS Code workspace (the window reloads once), then shows Lab sheet.pdf and the task files. Java's "non-project file" warning goes away because the folder is a project folder. If another folder is open, you choose: this window or a new one.
• VS Code may ask whether you trust the folder. Click Trust: it is your own lab folder.
• "Submit to TechStep" in the status bar shows only when the workspace folder is a lab folder or the tab in front belongs to a lab.