Software development or web development is a field where every developer is searching for some tools, technology, or Visual Studio Code Extensions that can be helpful in boosting their productivity. Different programmers have different choices and they use different approaches. For developers sometimes it becomes quite frustrating to write the same code at multiple places, refreshing the page or doing formatting in code so many times.
Well, Installing the plugins or some extensions in your code editor is one of the great ways to solve these kinds of problems. If you’re someone who uses Visual Studio Code then in this article we will help you with some Visual Studio Code extensions that you can install and use to boost your productivity.
Best Visual Studio Code Extensions for Software Developers
Visual Studio Code is a popular code editor, widely used by Software Developers to build applications. It is a first choice for developers when selecting for code editor due to its extensive customizability and extension. Extensions increase the editor’s functionality and developers’ performance. So let’s have a look at some wonderful Visual Studio Code extensions for Software Developers which can make your life easy and speed up your work.
1. Live Server
Are u tired of doing so many changes in your code editor, switching to the browser, and refreshing the browser to see the changes? If yes then this Visual Studio Code extension has a solution for you.
Live server is one of the most important extensions for all the developers out there which makes your project live on the browser and runs/updates the features on the web browser automatically.
So now you can just install this and make your work easier.
While building an app a few things you can only test when running your app from a server and this Visual Studio Code extension allows you to run your app on a localhost server.
2. Debugger For Chrome
Believe it or not, debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place.
For e.g. — Debugging is not just about writing the console.log() statements in JavaScript. You really need to dig yourself much into it and this extension helps in this case. Chrome comes to the rescue by providing built-in features that make debugging a much easier experience. This Visual Studio Code extension provides all the features that you need to debug your code right inside the VS Code!
3. JS(ES6) Code Snippets
Who does not love snippet extensions?
As a good developer, writing the same code, again and again at multiple places is frustrating. Well, this Visual Studio Code extension has a solution for this problem and it gives you ready-to-use snippets of popular modern (ES6) JavaScript code which you can use in your application to save time.
If you’re not using ES6 JavaScript features, giving them a try, is a must.
4. Bracket Pair Colorizer
A lot of messy brackets at multiple places in the code are the worst part of a developer’s life.
With tons of nested code, it becomes confusing for developers to determine which brackets match up with each other. This wonderful Visual Studio Code extension and colors matching brackets provide the feature to identify the brackets in your code with colors. It makes your code much more readable.
This Visual Studio Code extension will surely enhance the beauty of your code and what is better than that for a true developer?
5. ESLint
Do you keep looking for ways to write better code or do you want consistency in formatting across your team?
Here’s the solution for you. Install this powerful Visual Studio Code extension which will auto-format codes for consistent formatting across your team. It can also be configured to auto-format your code, and whenever you make an error it will show you a bunch of warnings.
6. Prettier
Time is precious, so why waste it?
If you are a developer and spend a lot of time formatting your code, then stop doing it.
VS Code has the perfect solution for this issue, which is faced by so many developers. As the name suggests, this fabulous Visual Studio Code extension helps you, make your code look prettier.
Having your code properly indented and separated for better code reading should be a priority. This Visual Studio Code extension is super easy to set up, it will automatically format on its own, the moment you hit save.
7. Browser Preview
Apart from the Live Server extension (mentioned above), this Visual Studio Code extension goes another step further in terms of the convenience it provides.
It comes with the feature of live-reloading preview right inside VS Code. For any kind of small changes, you don’t need to tab over to your browser.
This Visual Studio Code extension is a must for Front End Developers as it shows the browser preview of the code and makes life really simple.
8. Github Extension
We already know the importance of Github in the lives of Developers.
Today, web development has become a lot dependent on GitHub. It is a great tool that makes your life easier as a developer. GitHub is an essential platform for every web developer at every level.
If your team uses GitHub, or you are using Github for your project repositories or want to use other developers’ source code repositories, then this is an extremely useful Visual Studio Code extension for you.
9. Auto-Rename Tag
We all know how boring it is, renaming the HTML element in the code.
Well, with Auto Rename Tag, all you need to do in your code is to rename either the opening or closing tag and the other one will be automatically renamed.
This is an extremely simple Visual Studio Code extension, but yet an effective one!
10. Polacode
We all have seen fancy code screenshots in articles and tweets. They look absolutely amazing and there is a high chance, that it is a wonder of another Visual Studio Code extension.
Well, most likely they came from Polacode. This Visual Studio Code extension is easy to use. All you have to do is to copy a piece of code to your clipboard, open up the extension, paste the code, and click to save your image!
Conclusion
Apart from these, VS Code offers a huge set of astonishing extensions to help developers. Make sure to give these a try. These will definitely help you in saving time but also in enjoying your job as a developer, a little more. And as you make more projects you will get to know more unique and useful Visual Studio Code Extensions that will make Software Developer’s Life easier.
FAQs on Best Visual Studio Code Extensions for Software Developers
What are the Best Visual Studio Code Extensions for Software Developers?
There are multiple extensions that you can use to make your process more productive, some of the top extensions are
1. Live Server
2. Debugger For Chrome
3. JS(ES6) Code Snippets
4. Bracket Pair Colorizer
5. ESLint
6. Prettier
7. Browser Preview
8. Github Extension
9. Auto-Rename Tag
10. Polacode
Which extension is best for Python in VS Code?
Although VS code has a very huge base of extensions for Python, some of the most important extensions for Python are – Python, Python Preview, and Python Snippets. For more details, you can refer, to this article – Top 10 VS Code Extensions For Python
What are the alternatives to VS Code?
There are multiple alternatives to VS Code, each having its unique feature and capabilities, some of them are
1. Sublime Text
2. Atom
3. Notepad++
4. Brackets
5. GNU Emacs
6. UltraEdit
7. Source-code editor
8. G2 Deals
9. CodePen
10. BBEdit
