Python: Iteration Plan for April 2024

[kieferrm]

This plan captures our work on the Python Extension in April 2024. We follow the same iteration cycle as VS Code. Although we plan for a whole iteration, we may not only ship at the end of an iteration but throughout.

Legend of annotations

Mark	Description
🏃‍♀️	work in progress
✋	blocked task
💪	stretch goal for this iteration
🔴	missing issue reference
🔵	more investigation required to remove uncertainty
⚫	under discussion within the team
⬛	a large work item, larger than one iteration

Getting started

• 🏃‍♀️ 💪 Investigate creating template repos for various project types; issue; @cwebster-99

Environments

• 🏃‍♀️ ⬛ Implement Environments view UI (aka Don's environment extension); issue; @karthiknadig
  • 🏃‍♀️ Native locator for globally installed python and virtual environments; issue; @karthiknadig

Editing

N/A

Terminal

N/A

REPL

• 🏃‍♀️ Spike to find common ground between Python REPL and IW; issue; @anthonykim1 @amunger
  • Prototype communication between custom Python REPL and Node; issue; @anthonykim1
  • Create notebook controller in separate extension. issue; @anthonykim1 @amunger
  • 🏃‍♀️ Add experimental setting and embed REPL controller code into the Python extension. issue; @anthonykim1

Debugging

• ✋ 🏃‍♀️ Improve "Run and debug" button support; issue; @paulacamargo25
• Remove copy of debugpy from Python extension; issue; @paulacamargo25
• Support editing custom variable in debug view; issue; @paulacamargo25

Testing

• Switch to named pipes for testing communication; issue; @eleanorjboyd @karthiknadig
• 🏃‍♀️ Fix remaining issues to remove test rewrite experiment code; issue @eleanorjboyd
• 🏃‍♀️ 💪 Dynamically handle test framework on activation; issue; @eleanorjboyd
• 🏃‍♀️ Plan custom args user study; issue; @eleanorjboyd @cwebster-99

vscode.dev

• 🏃‍♀️ Investigate WASI use cases and audience; issue; @cwebster-99

Documentation

N/A

API

• API Python Projects; issue; @karthiknadig

Engineering

N/A

Python community

• PyCascades planning; @dawnwages @luabud
• 🏃‍♀️ PyCon US planning; @dawnwages

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Deferred Items

- [ ] Add other shell types to core; [issue](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/155530); @anthonykim1 - [ ] 💪 Unify Python REPL triggers; [issue](https://github.com//issues/22242); @anthonykim1 - [ ] 🔵🏃‍♀️ Adopt proposed API for testing coverage feature; [issue](https://github.com//issues/22671); @eleanorjboyd - [ ] Investigate contributing a callout for automatic configuration in Debug Start View; [issue](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-python-debugger/issues/110); @paulacamargo25 - [ ] 💪 Start refactoring code for custom args; [issue](https://github.com//issues/22670); @eleanorjboyd - [ ] 🏃‍♀️ ⬛ [Implement a dependency resolver with a customizable API](https://github.com/brettcannon/mousebender/issues/105); @brettcannon - [ ] 🏃 Add launch support for test discovery and execution in `settings.json`; [issue](https://github.com//issues/21845) @eleanorjboyd - [ ] Implement a Python traceback problem matcher in core - [ ] ✋ 🔴 Use `conda run` when debugging (waiting on the conda team to give us the go-ahead to rely on `conda run` so fundamentally); @paulacamargo25 - [ ] Investigate how we configure running and debugging - [ ] ✋ Write web tests; [issue](https://github.com//issues/19115); @karthiknadig - [ ] Unify `venvPath` and `venvFolders`; [issue](https://github.com//issues/1479) - [ ] 🔴 💪 Investigate a contribution point for workflow extensions; @karthiknadig