Visual Studio Code, maintained by Microsoft, is among the most widespread open-source code editors on the market. VS Code goals to supply all of the instruments you want whereas chopping out the complicated workflows of full IDEs. Many programmers favor VS Code as a result of it provides so many extensions for added performance, productiveness, debugging, and velocity.
On this fast information, we’ll go over the most effective VS Code extensions that any internet developer ought to use in 2023. We’ll focus on what they do and the way they will make your coding life simpler. Let’s bounce in!
Our high Visible Studio Code extensions:
Let’s get began!
Bracket Pair Colorizer
The VS extension Bracket Pair Colorizer matches corresponding brackets in your code with the identical shade. This can be a nice assist once you’re working with issues like nested elements, objects, or features that each one have brackets or parentheses.
With this straightforward extension, it is a lot simpler to seek out matching pairs and perceive your code. The most important benefit of this extension is improved navigation and accessibility. It additionally makes it simpler for others to learn and perceive your code.

Higher Feedback
Higher Feedback is an extension used for writing human-friendly feedback in your code, which is useful for you and anybody who’s studying supply code (particularly for groups). Descriptive, human-friendly feedback save a lot time for everybody concerned.
With this VS extension, you should use the next characters after a double ahead slash //
so as to add simpler commenting:
-
*
for highlighted textual content
-
!
for errors and warnings
-
?
for queries and questions
-
//
for strikethrough
-
TODO
for to-dos

Snippets
Snippets are a wonderful add-on for productiveness. Snippets is a group of assorted extensions for essentially the most generally used programming languages. The React Snippet is a well-liked extension, for instance, that permits you to use and create shorthands for stuff you do over and over.
Some widespread choices are:
- Angular Snippets (model 11)
- Python
- JavaScript (ES6) code snippets
- HTML Snippets
-
Vue 3 Snippets

CSS Peek
CSS Peek is a superb extension for internet builders, because it permits you to “peek” on the kinds for CSS courses, ids, and even HTML tags. This extension is just like the Brackets characteristic referred to as CSS Inline Editors.
CSS Peek helps image definition monitoring for any CSS selector, for instance:
-
Peek: load a CSS file inline for fast edits (
Ctrl+Shift+F12
)
-
Go To: bounce on to a CSS file (
F12
)
-
Hover: present the definition when hovering over a logo (
Ctrl+hover
)

Prettier
The Prettier extension is a formatter that helps to hold code fashion constant. You’ll be able to configure your settings nonetheless you want and save with shortcuts. Prettier is among the hottest code formatters on the market, with over 38.5k stars on GitHub.
Prettier will robotically repair formatting points in your code, like fixing the combination of single and double quotes or irregular use of semicolons.
This extension works with the next applied sciences: JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, JSON, CSS, HTML, Vue, Angular, Markdown, YAML, and extra.

Relative Path
Relative Path is a superb extension for writing import statements. You’ll be able to simply get the relative path for any file utilizing shortcuts in your workspace. As a substitute of looking for file’s location, you solely want the file’s identify, and the extension will present the relative path from the present location to that focus on file.
Be aware: It is going to require some configuration for those who’re working with a big mono-repository.

Icons
Icons permit you to create descriptive icons to assist differentiate between information and folders. This makes your code extra visible, so it is simpler to work as staff, return to code after a while, and even simply make the expertise extra enjoyable. For instance, you could possibly change the colour of a default folder icon utilizing the command palette.
There are just a few totally different Icons extensions, together with
- vscode-icons
- Materials Icon Theme
- Materials Theme Icons
- Easy icons

GitLens
The GitLens extension combines the capabilities of Git with VSCode that permits you to visualize code authorship through Git. GitLens is nice for understanding code higher, so you possibly can study who, why, and when code was modified. It additionally permits you to discover the historical past and evolution of a codebase.
It additionally has many different options to make use of, equivalent to:
- Revision navigation by file historical past
- A present line blame annotation on the finish of the road displaying the commit
- A standing bar blame annotation for the commit and writer who final modified the present line

Import Value
The Import Value extension helps with productiveness by displaying the estimated measurement of an import package deal. This helps to keep away from points by monitoring the dimensions of added dependencies.
If an import is simply too massive, the Import Value extension will warn you so you possibly can reconfigure based mostly on the necessities you set.

Markdown All in One
Markdown All in One is a really helpful extension for all issues markdown associated. It provides options like auto-preview, shortcuts, syntax autocomplete and extra. Markdown is often used throughout many tech fields, and this extension makes it even simpler to work with, boosting productiveness and velocity.
With Markdown All in One, you should use shortcuts to change textual content and add issues like daring, italics, and so forth. It additionally has helpful automation for working with issues like lists and math. Listed here are some widespread instructions:
- Create a Desk of Contents
- Take away part numbers
- Toggle code block
- Print present doc to HTML

IntelliSense
IntelliSense is what VS Code calls its personal code autocomplete characteristic, but it surely encompasses a number of totally different functionalities as effectively. It additionally contains: parameter information, fast information, and member lists. Highlighted recommendations could be inserted with Tab
or Enter
.
When recommendations are accepted, Intellisense remembers what partial characters had been typed. That means, for those who kind these characters once more the accepted suggestion will seem first. This successfully permits you to customise suggestions by being deliberate with once you settle for them. For instance, for those who kind co
after which settle for the autocomplete: console
, the subsequent time you kind co
, console
might be steered first. If you happen to kind con
and choose const
, then that alternative might be remembered additionally.
IntelliSense comes out of the field arrange for JavaScript, TypeScript, JSON, HTML, CSS, SCSS, and Much less. However it might probably simply be put in for nearly any language of your alternative with the language package deal extension. There are language extensions that embody superior IntelliSense options for:
- Python
- C/C++
- C#
- Java
- Go
- Dart
- PHP
- Ruby
Personalization: Intellisense will also be personalized with key bindings!
VS Code accessibility points
With any code editor or IDE, setup is usually a ache. VS Code is pretty easy in terms of establishing extensions, however it may be slightly trickier to seek out the entire accessibility lodging at first.
Fortunately, VS Code has loads of modularity in terms of accessibility. The official documentation covers a wealth of accessibility settings, particularly these associated to visibility. There are alternatives and keyboard shortcuts to assist with issues like zoom, customized shade distinction settings, and even navigation.
VS Code provides assist for a number of totally different display readers too. They’ve examined and confirmed the usage of NVDA and JAWS on Home windows, VoiceOVer on macOS, and Orca on Linux. When VS Code detects a display reader, it defaults to a display reader optimized mode that alters the UI for the editor and Built-in Terminal.
There are a number of totally different useful sections of the code editor that may be adjusted for accessibility. The terminal, standing bar, and debugger are all modifiable. Moreover, modifications could be made to the hover operate to be used with display magnifiers, and audio cues could be added to be used with display readers.
There are even just a few extensions which you could add to VS Code that enable you hold accessibility in thoughts when you code. The primary is known as Webhint, and though it does extra than simply flag accessibility points, all of us might use some accessibility-related reminders once in a while. It could analyze HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, and extra, all when you code. The problems highlighted by Webhint seem within the error pane. Pairing Webhint with the extension Error Lens permits accessibility points (together with recurrently flagged errors) to be much more seen. Error Lens takes issues usually displayed within the error pane and shows them on the road the place they happen.
When the 2 extensions are mixed, VS Code can remind you so as to add alt textual content to photographs, recommend that components want extra shade distinction, and far more, all within the line that the reminder is related to. Webhint and Error Lens are particularly helpful for accessibility compliance for front-end devs, however actually any developer can get use out of them.
VS Code shortcut cheat sheet
We hope you bought some worth out of those extensions. Now you can begin a brand new venture realizing that your favourite code editor is even higher. To say thanks for studying this far, please take pleasure in this VS Code shortcut PDF!

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