Visual Studio Code is currently one of the most frequently used text editors by programmers. It is a very light environment that can be personalized with a variety of extensions. Currently, there are many of them available on the market, but which of them are really worth your attention?
To answer this question, I have prepared a list of 10 useful extensions that I use myself.
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1. Live server
The list opens with a very popular plug-in that allows you to create your own local server. It allows you to open the project on a local address at the port you specify.
The built-in live reload functionality makes working on the project much more pleasant and simple.
2. GitLens
Shortly after starting our programming adventure, we come across version control systems. The most popular of them is GitHub and this is where we will probably keep the fruits of our hard work.
Using the console for this purpose, although useful, can often be tiring and, for beginners, terrifying. Although I recommend getting acquainted with it more closely (especially for those who are just taking their first steps on their career path), there are also tools that turn it into a formality.
GitLens visualizes all the changes we have made and allows us to send them to the cloud in a few clicks. We can check the edit history or create new branches, all without leaving the editor.
3. JavaScript (ES6) Code Snippets
One of my favorite extensions are those that add snippets to VSC. It is nothing more than using ready-made ones by entering a few characters.
Many developers write their own, for example creating entire carousels for the home page. But let's be honest, how many of you will dedicate hours of your time to this type of investment? Instead, we can use many simple and useful snippets from this extension.
One of my favorites is "clg", which immediately creates an empty console.log(), which allows for a much smoother application development process throughout the project.
4. Material Icon Theme
When working on larger projects, navigating file types becomes tedious. We often wonder what kind of file it is or what technology uses it.
Installing this extension solves many of these types of problems. Natively, VSC has a very poor database of file symbols, and all unsupported formats look identical in the side menu.
This plugin expands the list of available icons several times, thanks to which we will be able to determine at first glance what file we are dealing with without the need to decipher the extension.
5. DotEnv
One of the simplest items on this list.
This add-on adds color to env files. Thanks to this, environment variables become much more readable and easier to edit.
6. JavaScript Booster
VS Code doesn't show the light bulb very often in JavaScript files and I tended to ignore it because I never felt it was worth my time.
Installing JS Booster changed that. It adds a completely new set of features to VS Code. Converting let to const, replacing arrow functions with anonymous functions and much, much more.
Doing all these things by hand is no big deal, but the time adds up!
7. Colorize
If you have ever worked with styles, you have probably wondered more than once what color is hidden in the hex code.
This is where the next plugin on our list comes in handy. Colorize causes the background of our colors in the editor to take on the corresponding color.
