Boost your development with Microsoft Fabric extensions for Visual Studio Code
Microsoft Fabric is changing how we handle data engineering and data science. To make things easier, Microsoft added some cool extensions for Visual Studio Code (VS Code) that help you manage Fabric artifacts and build analytical applications.
By adding these Microsoft Fabric extensions to VS Code, developers can quickly create Fabric solutions and manage their data setups right from their coding environments. Here, we’ll look at these extensions and show why they’re useful.
Imagine you’re working on a user data function or a notebook for data engineering in your day-to-day job. These extensions let you handle all that without leaving VS Code, making your workflow smoother. Let’s dive into the available extensions so you can pick the best ones for your needs.
Microsoft Fabric Extensions for VS Code
Microsoft Fabric offers these extensions for VS Code:
- Microsoft Fabric (Preview)
- Fabric User data functions (Preview)
- Fabric Data engineering
Microsoft Fabric (Preview)
The Microsoft Fabric extension allows users to view and manage a Fabric workspace directly within VS Code. This core extension is essential for enabling additional features for various workloads within Fabric.
Key features include:
- Sign in and sign out with your Fabric account easily.
- Open workspaces in Fabric from within VS Code.
- List, delete, and rename fabric items effortlessly.
- Clone a git enabled workspace.
- Setup your working directory for your workspace.
- supports enabling a rich set of extensions that make it easy to discover and interact with Microsoft Fabric items.
Fabric User data functions (Preview)
Building on the capabilities of the Microsoft Fabric extension, the Fabric user data functions v extension adds functionality specific to building Fabric user data functions that can be invoked from external applications or from within Fabric. It works seamlessly with Fabric data sources like Warehouse, Lakehouse, Mirrored database and Fabric SQL database. This extension is particularly useful for developing user data functions items.
Key features include:
- Create new data functions in your Fabric Workspace.
- Manage your user data function in Fabric from within VS Code.
- View functions
- View connections
- View libraries
- Open and edit your user data function locally.
- Add new functions, run and debug data functions locally with breakpoints.
- Refresh connections, libraries for your user data function.
- Publish local changes to Fabric
Fabric Data engineering
The Fabric Data Engineering extension (Previously Synapse VS Code) for VS Code allows you to develop Notebooks, Fabric Lakehouse and more using Visual Studio Code. The extension provides a set of commands to interact with the platform.
Key features include:
- Develop Fabric Notebook, run and debug Notebook code on remote Spark pool.
- Synchronize Notebook between local and remote Spark pool.
- Develop Fabric Spark Job Definition, run and debug code on remote Spark pool
- Explore Lakehouse structure and table data.
Benefits of Microsoft Fabric Extensions
The VS Code extensions for Microsoft Fabric offer numerous benefits for data engineers and data scientists:
- Streamlined Workflow: Manage your workspace and develop data functions , notebooks without leaving the VS Code environment.
- Enhanced Productivity: The ability to run and debug locally means quicker iteration and more efficient troubleshooting.
- Seamless Integration: Easily publish changes and manage your fabric notebooks and user data functions ensuring consistency across your development and production environments.
- Flexibility: Change working directories and manage trusted extensions for a more personalized and secure workspace.
In summary, the Microsoft Fabric extensions for VS Code provide powerful tools that enable data engineers and data scientists to enhance their productivity and streamline their workflows. By using these extensions, you can manage your Fabric workspaces and develop robust data solutions with ease.
Upcoming features – Roadmap
We have exciting features lined up to enhance working with Microsoft Fabric extension to support more development of more fabric items from within VS Code. Here are few key feature updates:
- Support creation of other Fabric items
- Integration of Fabric Data engineering extension into Microsoft Fabric extension
- GIT support to publish your changes from VS code to your repository
Have feedback or questions? We’d love to hear from you! Use the Microsoft Fabric extension feedback channel and share your thoughts with us.
Conclusion
Experience the full potential of Microsoft Fabric and its VS Code extensions by signing up for a free trial today. Unlock new opportunities in data engineering and data science with the tools designed to make your work easier and more efficient. Don’t miss out—sign up now and start transforming your data solutions with Microsoft Fabric.
