If you had to choose five and only five VS Code extensions, which would you choose?
I asked that question to myself, and I have picked out the five best extensions I would recommend for general web programming.
Git Graph
I have always been promoting to learn Git through the terminal to understand the reasoning behind it and to be able to help people solving their Git issues even if they don't have a Git GUI you are familiar with.
Despite that, I think Git Graph is priceless when it comes to getting an overview of the Git History, the current Git state and to quickly see what has been included in each commit. To quickly performing cherry-picks, merges, reverts, commit undo and checkouts is a of course also extremely handy.
Git Graph extension on VS Code Marketplace
Auto Hide
Auto Hide is a VS Code extension that automatically closes the sidebar and optionally terminal in VS Code when you focus the text editor. Simple as that, but I love it. You do of course have the shortcuts cmd/ctrl + b and cmd/ctrl + j to do the same. But to constantly doing that really annoys me.
For private programming, I mainly use a laptop, but even when using three screens at work with IntelliJ based IDEs like WebStorm and Android Studio minimizing sidebars and terminals is an absolute must for me.
Regardless if you use the extension or not, I will give you the life hack to move the VS Code sidebar to the right side of the screen under View > Appearance menu in VS Code. By doing that, your text editor will not shift horizontally when opening and hiding the sidebar.
Auto Hide extension on VS Code Marketplace
Peacock
Maybe I am some sort of aesthetics freak, but I like to keep things stylish and organized. With Peacock extension you can put some color on your VS Code windows. Really nice for me who always works with at least three different repositories or projects and rarely close my workspaces on the Mac (yes, a style snob would maybe be the correct term).
By just adding some colors to each window, you can now instantly see which project you currently have on the screen in front of you!
Peacock extension on VS Code Marketplace
ESLint
An obvious option. I would actually almost refuse to work with someone who didn't want to use it. It's a standard and should be used for both linting and prettifying. If you are new to programming and unsure what it is, please read about it and start using it.
ESLint extension on VS Code Marketplace
Package Json Upgrade
Package Json Upgrade have one job, and it does it great. It keeps track of which of all dependencies in package.json file that is up to date.
With a single repository, it's maybe easy to keep it up to date and also have a grasp of the latest releases of the packages. With multiple projects and lots of different dependencies Package Json Upgrade will soon become your best coding buddy reminding you about available upgrades and thereby important security fixes and technical debts.
Package Json Upgrade extension on VS Code Marketplace
What Is the Best VS Code Extension?
Make your choice in the comments. List your five best VS code extensions you could not live without.
Latest comments (27)
You can use "gitk" from the shell - it comes bundled together with Git for Windows (you can install it separately on most linux distros too using the package manager). It looks just like that graph you mentioned and no additional extensions are required
Package Json Upgrade sounds nice. My opinion is that if you use a JS project, you should run a clean
npm ifrom time to time even locally and with that you'll get the notifications about relevant updates in the console.Do you really check the package file that often manually that this extension is useful?
Thank you for this. I got here looking for a side panel autohide extension, and you're right: just moving the panel to the right side has been a surprising boost of productivity for me! I'll be sure to check out the other extensions you mention.
Please remember that Git Graph has not been maintained, and the license does not allow forking. The day you have to find out an alternative will be coming.
This is incorrect. The license does not prevent forking.
It forbids publishing a fork to the marketplace.
Pretty much, yes
1 - Gitlense ( cannot imagine now work without it )
2 - Prettier
3 - Nx (improves Nx.dev experience for JS monorepos )
4 - Docker (helps to access Docker and compose images from IDE)
5 - Dev containers ( game changer in terms of VS Code experience )
Thanks for the list! I didn't knew about package-json-upgrade, it'll be a game changer! 🔥
You don't even need these 5, so you can cut it down to zero, lol ... less is more, lean is mean.
against my better judgement, I'm going to poke the proverbial bear and beg to disagree with you on, well, the whole list... and for context: I use VSCode daily for multiple different web-related projects, including JS, TS, Dart, sometimes even a little Java.
Git Graph? nah, you're much better off with a decent quality dedicated Git GUI... the official Git website has a long list with a little something for everyone. "Fork" is absolutely brilliant if you can justify the license cost (and don't use Linux), "GittyUp" is my next best option.
Auto Hide? it's great in principle, but have you actually tried to use it? like, regularly?? I did.. then I spent days trying to hack it into submission.. it relies on the same actions that mouse or keyboard interactions use, which also change focus. so, this would be a solid no. (FWIW, I believe there are ideas for APIs that will improve this, but I haven't followed up on that for quite a while)
Peacock? and negate all those many hours we've spent looking for that "perfect dark theme"? hmmm.. I don't know anybody personally that would do that.
ESLint? sure you could install this in your main profile and have it always available.. or you could just add it to the extension list for whatever dev container actually requires it.
Package Json Upgrade? yeah, I used to use this.. really like the way it lets one pick the update to do, between "major", "minor" or "patch" (as applicable). but overall I would say Version Lens is better, since it supports numerous project types in addition to Node.
yeah, so since the entire premise of this argument is personal preference, my personal top 5, for web dev and more:
TODOorFIXMEcomment again.I completely agree with pretty much everything you wrote although I'd say the described extensions are more eye candy for those who need to stimulate them selves visually rather than increase productivity. ESLint is probably the only one I'd agree with to the point that it can be always installed but each project needs to have its own config that makes sense. And don't even get me started on prettier....
Vim extension.