10 VS Code Extensions that will boost your productivity

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is one of the most popular code editors for web developers. It offers a rich set of features, such as syntax highlighting, code completion, debugging, version control, and more. But what makes VS Code even more powerful is the ability to customize it with extensions.

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Extensions are add-ons that enhance the functionality of VS Code and provide additional tools and features for specific languages, frameworks, or tasks. There are thousands of extensions available in the VS Code Marketplace, but not all of them are equally useful or relevant for web development.

In this blog post, we will explore 10 of the best VS Code extensions that will boost your productivity and make your web development workflow easier and faster. These extensions cover various aspects of web development, such as code formatting, live reloading, code snippets, color themes, and more.

1. Prettier

Prettier is an opinionated code formatter that automatically formats your code according to a set of rules. It supports many languages and frameworks, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Vue, Angular, and more. You can configure Prettier to format your code on save or on paste, and you can also customize some of the formatting options to suit your preferences.

Prettier helps you maintain a consistent code style across your project and save time on manual formatting. It also integrates well with other extensions, such as ESLint and Stylelint.

2. Live Server

Live Server is a must-have extension for web developers who work with static or dynamic web pages. It launches a local development server with a live reload feature that automatically refreshes the browser whenever you make changes to your code. You can also use Live Server to test your web pages on different devices by accessing the server URL from any browser.

Live Server saves you the hassle of manually reloading the browser and allows you to see the results of your code instantly. It also supports HTTPS and proxy settings.

3. Auto Rename Tag

Auto Rename Tag is a simple but handy extension that automatically renames both opening and closing tags when you edit one of them. This saves you the trouble of manually renaming the matching tags and prevents errors due to mismatched tags.

Auto Rename Tag works with HTML, XML, JSX, TSX, and other tag-based languages.

4. Bracket Pair Colorizer

Bracket Pair Colorizer is a useful extension that assigns different colors to matching brackets in your code. This makes it easier to identify which brackets belong together and avoid confusion or errors due to missing or extra brackets.

Bracket Pair Colorizer supports parentheses, curly braces, square brackets, and angle brackets. You can also customize the colors and styles of the brackets to your liking.

5. VS Code Icons

VS Code Icons is a popular extension that adds icons to your files and folders in the VS Code explorer. The icons are based on the file type or framework of each file or folder, which makes it easier to recognize them at a glance.

VS Code Icons supports over 100 file types and frameworks, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Vue, Angular, Node.js, Python, Ruby, PHP, Laravel, WordPress, and more. You can also choose from different icon themes and customize some of the icon settings.

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6. Peacock

Peacock is a fun extension that lets you change the color of your VS Code workspace based on your mood or preference. You can choose from a variety of predefined colors or create your own custom color. Peacock will apply the color to the title bar, activity bar, status bar, and accent border of your VS Code window.

Peacock is useful for distinguishing different workspaces or projects when you have multiple VS Code windows open. It can also help you personalize your VS Code environment and make it more enjoyable to work with.

7. GitLens

GitLens is an essential extension for web developers who use Git as their version control system. It supercharges your Git capabilities in VS Code by providing various features and tools that enhance your Git workflow.

Some of the features that GitLens offers are:

Inline blame annotations that show who changed each line of code and when
Code lens indicators that show the number of authors, commits, and lines changed for each file or function
A GitLens sidebar that shows detailed information about commits, branches, remotes, stashes, and more
A GitLens explorer that shows a history graph of commits, branches, tags, and more
A GitLens compare view that lets you compare any two files or branches
A GitLens interactive rebase editor that lets you easily rebase your commits
A GitLens status bar that shows the current branch, upstream status, and file status

GitLens helps you understand your code history better and collaborate more effectively with other developers.

8. GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot is a revolutionary extension that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help you write code faster and smarter. GitHub Copilot is powered by OpenAI Codex, a deep learning system trained on billions of lines of public code.

GitHub Copilot works as an autocomplete tool that suggests code snippets based on what you type or comment. It can also help you write entire functions or classes by generating code from natural language descriptions. GitHub Copilot supports many languages and frameworks, such as JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Ruby, Java, C#, React, Vue, Angular, and more.

GitHub Copilot is not a replacement for human programmers, but rather a powerful assistant that can help you save time, avoid errors, and learn new skills.

9. JavaScript (ES6) Code Snippets

JavaScript (ES6) Code Snippets is a handy extension that provides code snippets for JavaScript (ES6) syntax in VS Code. You can use these snippets to quickly insert common JavaScript constructs into your code, such as variables, functions, classes, promises, generators, arrow functions, and more.

JavaScript (ES6) Code Snippets supports both JavaScript and TypeScript files. You can also customize some of the snippet settings to suit your preferences.

10. CSS Peek

CSS Peek is a useful extension that lets you peek into CSS classes and ids from HTML files in VS Code. You can use this feature to quickly see how a CSS class or id is defined without switching to the CSS file. You can also use this feature to jump to the definition of a CSS class or id in the CSS file.

CSS Peek supports HTML files as well as JSX/TSX files for React projects. It also supports SCSS/SASS/LESS files for CSS preprocessors.

Conclusion

These are just some of the many VS Code extensions that can boost your productivity as a web developer. By using these extensions, you can enhance your coding experience in VS Code and make it more efficient, convenient, and enjoyable.

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