TextBricks

A VSCode extension providing structured C programming templates for beginners to learn programming efficiently.

Features

🎯 Structured Learning Path

TextBricks organizes C programming concepts into 4 progressive levels:

• Level 1: Basic Syntax - Hello World, Variables, Input/Output
• Level 2: Control Structures - If-Else, For Loops, While Loops
• Level 3: Functions & Arrays - Function Definition, 1D/2D Arrays
• Level 4: Advanced Concepts - Pointers, Structs, File I/O

🚀 Easy Code Insertion

• Click to Copy: Click any template card to copy code to clipboard
• Drag to Insert: Drag template cards directly into your editor
• Interactive Preview: Hover eye button to see detailed code preview
• Tooltip Dragging: Drag code directly from preview tooltips

🎨 Clean Interface

• Integrated sidebar panel in VS Code
• Collapsible category sections
• Template cards with clear descriptions
• Language tags and visual feedback

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "TextBricks"
4. Click Install

Manual Installation

1. Clone this repository
2. Run npm install to install dependencies
3. Run npm run compile to build the extension
4. Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
5. Open a C file to see TextBricks panel in sidebar

Usage

Getting Started

1. Install the extension and restart VS Code
2. Open a C file (.c or .h)
3. Find TextBricks panel in the activity bar sidebar
4. Browse templates organized by learning level
5. Click or drag templates to use them

Template Categories

📚 Level 1: Basic Syntax

// Hello World - Your first C program
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    printf("Hello, World!\n");
    return 0;
}

🔧 Level 2: Control Structures

// For Loop - Basic iteration
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    printf("第 %d 次迴圈\n", i + 1);
}

⚙️ Level 3: Functions & Arrays

// Function Definition - Reusable code blocks
int add(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
}

🎖️ Level 4: Advanced Concepts

// Basic Pointer - Memory addresses
int number = 42;
int *ptr = &number;
printf("Value: %d\n", *ptr);

Development

Project Structure

TextBricks-VSCode/
├── src/                    # TypeScript source code
│   ├── extension.ts        # Main extension file
│   ├── commands/           # Command handlers
│   ├── providers/          # Webview and template providers
│   ├── services/           # Business logic services
│   ├── models/             # Data models
│   └── data/               # Template data
├── media/                  # Webview assets
│   ├── main.js             # Frontend JavaScript
│   └── style.css           # UI styling
├── icons/                  # Extension icons
├── package.json            # Extension manifest
└── README.md               # This file

Building from Source

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile TypeScript
npm run compile

# Run tests
npm test

# Package extension
vsce package

Architecture

• Extension Host: Main TypeScript extension running in Node.js
• Webview Panel: HTML/CSS/JS frontend for template display
• Template Manager: Handles loading and formatting of code templates
• Drag & Drop: Native VS Code APIs for seamless code insertion

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how you can help:

Adding New Templates

1. Edit src/data/templates.json
2. Add your template with proper category and metadata
3. Test the template in the webview
4. Submit a pull request

Reporting Issues

• Use GitHub Issues to report bugs
• Include VS Code version and extension version
• Provide steps to reproduce the issue

Development Guidelines

• Follow TypeScript and ESLint configurations
• Write tests for new features
• Update documentation for changes
• Maintain compatibility with VS Code API

Requirements

• VS Code: Version 1.60.0 or higher
• Node.js: Version 16 or higher (for development)
• TypeScript: Version 4.4 or higher (for development)

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

• Currently no configurable settings
• Future versions may include customization options

Known Issues

• Tooltip positioning may need adjustment on different screen sizes
• Some complex templates may require manual formatting after insertion

Release Notes

1.0.0

• Initial release with 4 learning levels
• 13 essential C programming templates
• Click-to-copy and drag-to-insert functionality
• Interactive tooltip previews
• Collapsible category sections

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

• Documentation: See PRD.md for detailed specifications
• Issues: Report bugs on GitHub Issues
• Email: Contact the development team for support

Made with ❤️ for C programming learners

Happy coding with TextBricks! 🧱✨