Visual Studio Code is my editor of choice. I started with it because of the top-notch TypeScript integration, and then I stuck with it for all the rest (all but for big projects in languages with outstanding IDE support, such as Kotlin).
During the years, my extension page grew bigger and bigger; new extensions get installed, old extensions get removed. You know, the usual stuff. But during all these years, a bunch of extensions has always remained the same. They are my favorite VSCode extensions, and I am going to list them here.
Extensions
Better Comments
Better Comments is the most recent addition to my list of favorite extensions. But it is well worth it. It allows me to highlight part of code comments with special meaning. Of course, the TODO comments are the most commons, but also highlights lines with different colors and more.
Because I am the kind of developer that uses a lot of in-code comments to track ongoing development too, it is a small extension but very valuable.
Version: 2.0.5
Developer: Aaron Bond
Link Visual Studio Marketplace
Code Runner
Code Runner is a popular extension for running snippets of code on the fly. Just highlight the code, press Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>Alt</kbd> + <kbd>N (or Cmd</kbd> + <kbd>⌥</kbd> + <kbd>N on MacOs), and the code will be executed. It is very useful to hard-test snippets of code. It is not my most used extension, but when I need it, it is just right there.
Version: 0.9.16
Developer: Jun Han
Link Visual Studio Marketplace
CodeSnap
This is a really cool and fun extension. Do you ever want to post a snippet as an image? An image like the one in the above figure?
CodeSnap is the tool you need. Just highlight the code, right-click, and “CodeSnap 📸.” Done. Easy.
Version: 1.0.27
Developer: adpyke
Link Visual Studio Marketplace
Git Project Manager
I often need switching between similar projects. Maybe I am working on “Foo,” and I need to change something in its library “Bar.”
Git Project Manager allows me to switch between the two projects without lifting my fingers from the keyboard. I just need to press Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>Alt</kbd> + <kbd>P and select one of my Git repository in my Code folder (or whatever you keep your code projects).
Version: 1.7.1
Developer: Felipe Caputo
Link Visual Studio Marketplace
Git Lens
If you use Git (you probably do, and if you don’t, you probably should) Git Lens is the best Git tool on the marketplace. It has all the features you can imagine. You can explore the repository tags, branches, remotes, and contributors, explore the history of a file or a single line, see a cool heath map of the most frequently changed lines in a file, and much more.
Version: 10.2.1
Developer: Eric Amodio
Link Visual Studio Marketplace
Prettier
Prettier is the main code formatter extension out there. It is powerful, it supports a lot of languages, and it works out of the box. Sometimes it can be annoying or can enter in conflict with some built-in language formatter. Luckily, it is highly customizable, so you can always find a way out.
Version: 3.20.0
Developer: Esben Petersen
Link Visual Studio Marketplace
Todo+
This is the closest thing to org-mode in VSCode (still very far away, though). I use it for one main reason: it gives me a tab where I can navigate all the TODO, FIX, and NOTE comments in the code (as I said, I use them a lot).
But Todo+ also supports a TODO file, with projects, tasks, notes, time tracking, estimates, tags and more. I do not use this a lot (because I already have a task manager), but I know some people love text-based project managers, and this is an exciting thing to try.
Version: 4.14.1
Developer: Fabio Spampinato
Link Visual Studio Marketplace
Conclusion
These are my favorite VSCode extension. And you? What are your favorite extensions? Let me know!
