This article requires the following dependencies software. Note: RDP APIs developers still need RDP APIs Playground page to get the APIs document and information. Developers who currently use VSCode to implement the RDP APIs application (with any languages) can use this extension to test the RDP APIs query, endpoint without switching to other tools like Postman or cURL. This article demonstrates how to use the Thunder Client extension in VSCode by using Refinitiv Data Platform (RDP) APIs as an example HTTP REST API. The Thunder Client is the lightweight Rest API Client Extension that allows developers to test HTTP request and view the response message with a clean and simple GUI interface in VSCode directly.
That extension is easy to learn and use but some developers may want a more easy-to-use workflow to test the API. In the previous post, I have shown how to use the REST Client extension to test the HTTP REST API with a simple test script syntax.
VSCode also supports a lot of extensions that extend the editor features and development workflows such as code linters, testing tools, remote integration, etc. This cross-platform editor took over developers' popularity based on its fast and lightweight, supports a variety of programming languages with IntelliSense (a feature that borrows from its sibling, Visual Studio IDE), and supports complete development operations like debugging, task running, and version control. Visual Studio Code (or just VSCode) is a free source code editor developed and maintained by Microsoft.