Why VS Coders Use VS Code
Knowing the syntax and concepts of a programming language or technology is not the only thing that is part of a developer’s life, but, developers also supplement their coding arsenal with certain tools that make the life of developers much easier and foster faster development.
VS (Visual Studio) Code is one such tool, that outclasses all its competitors and has grown to be the most popular choice in the developer’s community.
So, In this article, We will be discussing what every developer should know about VS Code, some top pick extensions to make our lives easier, and try digging into why “Very Smart Coders use Visual Studio Code”.
What is Visual Studio Code?
Visual studio code is a cross-platform Code Editor. We as developers require some kind of software to write, manage, and develop our applications. A code editor is simply a software that allows us to do the same, with some extra features and functionalities that make writing, managing, and testing our applications much easier. Cross-platform simply means it can be used on different operating systems like Windows, macOS, as well as Linux.
VS Code is lightweight, powerful, and highly flexible and customizable. Every developer can customize and configure the appearance, icons, themes, keyboard shortcuts, extensions, etc according to their taste and preferences.
It comes with a ton of extremely useful features like —
- Intellisense (auto code and path completion, syntax highlighting, quick info),
- Inbuilt version control (Git) and,
- Terminal support with
- Debugging functionality,
which simply makes it the smartest editor in the market. Now, To enhance the efficiency and workflow of developers, VS Code has a huge marketplace of extensions (features that extends the functionality of the editor) available that are extremely easy to install and work with.
Top 6 VS Code Extensions
Now we will be looking at some top pick extensions that every developer should be using while working with Vs Code.
1. Live Server
This extension simply allows us to simulate an actual server on our local machine with live reloading enabled in it. This allows developers to simply make changes to their code and the same will be automatically reflected on the server without the need of reloading the webpage.
2. Live Sass Compiler
This is a must-have extension for all UI Developers out there. Syntactically Awesome Stylesheet (SCSS) is a CSS Preprocessor, So to work with SCSS, we first need a compiler to convert SCSS/SASS code into CSS. Live Sass Compiler allows developers to make use of Sass with just one click, and simply prevent the need of setting up a Sass development workflow.
3. ESLint
Linting is simply the process of analyzing the source code of a program for potential errors, and the software that does this heavy lifting is known as a Linter. ESLint is a linting software that analyzes, reports, and automatically fixes potential bugs in EchmaScript(Javascript standard) code, to make the codebase more consistent.
4. Prettier
Prettier is a code-formatter. A code-formatter is simply a software that harmonizes indentation (proper spacing and alignment) and makes our code more readable as well as manageable. Prettier also comes with the format on save feature that automatically indents, every time the code is saved and works great when configured along with ESlint. Beautify is also an alternative extension to Prettier.
5. Polacode
This extension is used of taking code screenshots. Developers can use it for sharing code snippets with other developers or with the community by using them in their articles or blog posts.
6. ES6 Code Snippets
This is a must-have extension for every Javascript Developer. This extension provides snippet support for Javascript, Typescript, HTML, and accelerates the development process by preventing developers from writing the whole syntax. VS Code also gives developers the flexibility to create their own customized snippets.
Conclusion
VS Code minimalistic design, flexibility, debugger, built-in Git, and Terminal support with a huge ecosystem of extensions, etc makes VS Code standout among its all contenders and justify its popularity in the developers' community.
I hope all the above-stated reasons convinced you why — Very Smart Coders use Visual Studio Code.
That’s it for this article. If you find this article helpful do let me know. Stay Tuned!!
