# Adding standard library packages to manifest file for getting autocompletion is redundant

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/adding-standard-library-packages-to-manifest-file-for-getting-autocompletion-is-redundant/108330>\
**Category:** VS Code\
**Tags:** question, package\
**Created:** [January 4, 2024, 6:32am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/adding-standard-library-packages-to-manifest-file-for-getting-autocompletion-is-redundant/108330 "2024-01-04T06:32:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![GeorgeTheFifth](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/georgethefifth/32/205718_2.png) [@GeorgeTheFifth](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/GeorgeTheFifth)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 6:32am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/adding-standard-library-packages-to-manifest-file-for-getting-autocompletion-is-redundant/108330/1 "2024-01-04T06:32:04Z")

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The fact that we have to add the standard library packages to get code autocompletion seems quite redundant!

For instance, in Python, when you import something from the standard library, you get the autocompletion on the fly.

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**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 7:17am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/adding-standard-library-packages-to-manifest-file-for-getting-autocompletion-is-redundant/108330/2 "2024-01-04T07:17:15Z")

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The way things are headed, you probably should think of the “standard library” of just a set of ordinary packages that happen to be in the Julia depot by default.

> [@PSA: Compat requirements in the General registry are changing](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-compat-requirements-in-the-general-registry-are-changing/104958):
>
> TL;DR: Currently standard libraries have an implied version number based of the Julia version. This is changing and will require users to update their Project.toml. Update – November 9th 2023: While rolling this change out we encountered some [unfortunate interactions](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-random-jl-is-fixed-to-version-0-0-0/105957/2). Namely that using Pkg inside the test sandbox would lead to confusing errors like: Resolving package versions... ERROR: LoadError: Unsatisfiable requirements detected for package LinearAlgebra [37e2e46d]: LinearAlgebra [37e2e…

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**Author:** ![StefanKarpinski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stefankarpinski/32/24_2.png) [@StefanKarpinski](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/StefanKarpinski)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:07pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/adding-standard-library-packages-to-manifest-file-for-getting-autocompletion-is-redundant/108330/3 "2024-01-05T14:07:15Z")

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Can you clarify what you mean by “code autocompletion”?

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**Author:** ![pfitzseb](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/pfitzseb/32/45566_2.png) [@pfitzseb](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/pfitzseb)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/adding-standard-library-packages-to-manifest-file-for-getting-autocompletion-is-redundant/108330/4 "2024-01-05T14:12:34Z")

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If you want to get completions/intellisense for stdlibs in VS Code, then you need to have these stdlibs in the environment. This is consistent with being able to actually use stdlibs in a package though, so I don’t see the issue.

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**Author:** ![StefanKarpinski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stefankarpinski/32/24_2.png) [@StefanKarpinski](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/StefanKarpinski)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/adding-standard-library-packages-to-manifest-file-for-getting-autocompletion-is-redundant/108330/5 "2024-01-05T14:16:57Z")

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I also think it’s always been this way, no? You can’t use a package whether it’s a stdlib or not, unless you pkg add it to your project. So completing it would just allow writing code that will immediately fail, which seems counterintuitive.

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**Author:** ![GeorgeTheFifth](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/georgethefifth/32/205718_2.png) [@GeorgeTheFifth](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/GeorgeTheFifth)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/adding-standard-library-packages-to-manifest-file-for-getting-autocompletion-is-redundant/108330/6 "2024-01-07T19:14:35Z")

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I think standard libraries should be excluded from this paradigm. Why are they called standard if I have to add them at the start of every project? They are called standard because they are bundled with Julia and they should be ready to go (Autocompletion included)!

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**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/adding-standard-library-packages-to-manifest-file-for-getting-autocompletion-is-redundant/108330/7 "2024-01-07T21:02:52Z")

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Let me put it another way. If you can bear declaring exactly what you need, we will be able to minimize the deployment size of the produced executable in the near future. I realize that is not everyone’s goal, but it allows for flexibility in the future.

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**Author:** ![StefanKarpinski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stefankarpinski/32/24_2.png) [@StefanKarpinski](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/StefanKarpinski)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 9:58pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/adding-standard-library-packages-to-manifest-file-for-getting-autocompletion-is-redundant/108330/8 "2024-01-07T21:58:39Z")

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That’s a fine opinion but it’s never been like that. Moreover, if that had been the case then we wouldn’t be able to make existing stdlibs upgradeable the way we currently are starting to do.