Top 10 Must-Have VS Code Extensions for Everyday Use!
Visual Studio Code (VS Code) reigns supreme as the go-to text editor, and its magic lies in its extensibility. With a wealth of vs code extensions at your fingertips, you can personalize your coding environment to suit your unique needs.
In this article, we’re unveiling the top 10 essential VS Code extensions for everyday coding. I’ve been personally using these extensions for years, and a day hardly ever pass without using at least a couple of them. Whether you’re a pro or just starting out, these useful VS code extensions for web development are absolutely necessary for you.
Docker Extension
Are you a full-time developer who’s also dealing with containerized applications? If so, then the Docker extension on VS Code is a must-have for you. With the help of this extension, you’ll be able to view and manage all of your containers, images, volumes, networks, and registries.
The official Docker extension will just make it super easy for you to manage all of your containerized applications with only a few clicks! You can view more details on this extension right here.
Thunder Client Extension
Another great extension for web developers is Thunder Client. As you can see in it’s description, this extension is a lightweight Rest API client for VS Code. In another words, it could be a compact replacement for Postman. Of course it doesn’t have all the powerful features of postman, but it could be a fast, lightweight replacement.
As you can see, by installing the Thunder Client extension you can easily make web requests to any API with the necessary body content in any form. You can also define ENV variables and collections.
Better Comments Extension
Better Comments is another useful extension for VS Code. By using this VS Code extension, you’ll be able to elevate your code commenting by annotating with TODOs, alerts, informational, and so much other stuff!!
I’ve also put an image of all the different comment styles you’ll have access too as soon as you get Better Comments from the Vs Code Extension Marketplace. You can also define your own commenting styles using this greate vscode extension!
TODO Highlight Extension
Another fantastic VsCode extension for developers is the TODO Highlight extension. This free Vs Code extension can highlight your TODO and FIXME comments. This way, you’ll be able to locate your tasks so much faster.
As the extension suggests,TODO:
,FIXME:
are the built-in keywords. You can override the look by customizing the setting. You’ll also be able to define your own keywords!
Code Spell Checker Extension
As the name suggests, Code Spell Checker is capable of catching common spelling errors within your source code or document. By using this great vscode extension, you’ll never be worried about making silly mistakes by using the wrong spelling.
When this vs code extension detects a wrong spelling, it underlines the word and gives you the closest suggestions to fix it as soon as possible. Also, if you intended to spell the word as you did (for example it might be a special name for a variable or etc…) you can add the word to your settings, so you wouldn’t get annoyed with the warnings.
Project Manager Extension
Have you ever gotten tired of switching between different projects on your computer? Project Manager is a fantastic VS Code extension to help you easily switch between projects.
Project Manager is a useful Vs Code extension for web developers who want to view all their projects as a list and easily switch between them. You can also add new projects to the list by only a few clicks.
Prettier Extension
Prettier is a famous extension for vs code which is used by thousands of developers daily. This tool gives you the benefit of formatting any piece of code, script, or text based on the format you choose.
The only thing you need to do to use Prettier is to open your document, select the format you want from the bottom right of your vs code window, and then press ctrl + shift + p
to open the command palette, and choose Format Document.
GitHub Copilot Extension
If you use github, you definitely know about one of it’s greatest products; GitHub Copilot. This VSCode extension is an AI pair programmer tool that’s gonna help you speed up your coding, while keeping it clean and functional.
As you can see, if you install and activate GitHub Copilot, you’ll be able to see its clever suggestions as you’re coding. If you need to see more suggestions from the GitHub Copilot, you can press ctrl + Enter.
The only downside is that you need to pay for GitHub Copilot. But there’s a way to unlock Copilot and a lot of other cool stuff for free! If you wanna get GitHub Copilot for free, you can check this out:
Excel Viewer Extension
The Excel Viewer extension is another vs code extension that might come in handy if you deal with a lot of excel files. I specially use this extension when I need to checkout the csv outputs from my code, or the input excel data I need to do processing on.
The Excel Viewer can display the comma-separated data as an excel table; and you can also use filters for columns, as you would normally do with regular excel files.
Image Preview Extension
Another great vs code extension for front end developers is Image Preview. Image Preview let’s you see a small preview of the images you put in your html or css files.
Using the Image Preview VS Code extension, You wouldn’t need to open the images separately to make sure they work, you can easily take a look at the left side of your file to see a small preview, or hover your mouse over it.
Final Words
In our exploration of the “Top 10 Essential VS Code Extensions for Everyday Coding,” we’ve uncovered a toolkit that can truly transform your coding routine. These useful extensions offer a wide array of functionalities to simplify and improve your daily coding tasks.
If you know any other VS Code extensions that should be in this list, please let me know so we can add it here. Happy coding, and may your code always flow smoothly and elegantly!