VS Code has a powerful built-in debugger that works with many languages.

General Debugging

To start debugging:

1. Click the Debug icon in the sidebar (or press F5).
2. VS Code will prompt you to create a debug configuration if one doesn’t exist.
3. Set breakpoints by clicking in the gutter next to line numbers.
4. Start debugging.

The debugger provides:

• Variables inspection (local and global)
• Watch expressions for specific variables
• Call stack visualization
• Breakpoint management

Debugging Go with Delve

For Go debugging, you need Delve.

Setup

1. Install the official Go VS Code extension
2. Make sure $GOPATH is configured
3. On Linux/Windows: Run the command Go: Install/Update Tools
4. On macOS: Install Delve via Homebrew:

brew install go-delve/delve/delve

Configuration

Press F5 to start debugging. VS Code creates a .vscode/launch.json file automatically:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Launch",
            "type": "go",
            "request": "launch",
            "mode": "debug",
            "remotePath": "",
            "port": 2345,
            "host": "127.0.0.1",
            "program": "${fileDirname}",
            "env": {},
            "args": [],
            "showLog": true
        }
    ]
}

Debug Modes

The mode parameter can be set to:

Mode	Description
debug	Compile and debug the current program
test	Debug tests (use -test.run and test name in args for single tests)
exec	Run a pre-built binary (specify path in program)
remote	Debug remotely

Tips

• Step into library calls to learn how the standard library works.
• The Go standard library is well documented and readable.
• Debugging helps you understand the internal workings of packages you use.

Check the official documentation for more details and troubleshooting tips.

Lessons in this unit:

0:	Introduction
1:	Setup and Configuration Tips
2:	Terminal Tips
3:	Editing Tips
4:	Prettier and Auto-Formatting
5:	Language-Specific Settings
6:	Emmet for Faster HTML/CSS
7:	▶︎ Debugging in VS Code
8:	Fix node modules import errors in VS Code
9:	Fixing TS issues in VS Code - Astro
10:	Regex: select entire line starting with...