vscode

Stop autosaving your code

By / Last updated on March 30, 2023

Autosave has grown in popularity recently and become the default for many developers and teams, a must-have feature for various code editors. Apps like Visual Studio stubbornly refuse to fully provide the feature, and others make it optional. WebStorm, PHPStorm, and other JetBrains products have it enabled by default; for VSCode, you have to turn it on if you want it.

So obviously, we have two opposing views on the value of autosave because even though it can be highly beneficial, it has its downsides. In this article, we’ll look at both sides of the autosave divide, good causes for turning it off and good causes not to.

Why you should stop autosaving your code

First, some reasons to think twice before enabling autosave in your code editor:

1. Higher and wasted resource usage

High VSCode CPU usage

When using tools that perform an expensive action any time the file is changed and saved, like build watchers, continuous testing tools, FTP client file syncers, etc, turning on autosave will make these actions much more often. They will also happen when there are errors in the file, and when you make a tiny change. It might instead be preferable for these tools to run only when they need to; when you reach a point where you really want to see the results of your changes.

With greater CPU and memory usage comes lower battery usage and more heat from higher CPU temperature. Admittedly, this will continue to become less and less of an issue as computers increase in processing power, memory capacity, and battery life across the board. But depending on your particular situation, you might want to conserve these things as much as possible.

2. Harder to recover from unexpected errors

Error output in the console.

With autosave enabled, any single change you make to your code file is written to disk, whether these changes leave your file in a valid state or not. This makes it harder to recover from unwanted changes.

What if you make an unintended and possibly buggy change, maybe from temporarily trying something out, and then close the file accidentally or unknowingly (autosave makes this more likely to happen)? With your Undo history wiped out, it will be harder to recover the previous working version of the file. You might even forget how the code used to look before the change, and then have to expend some mental effort to take the code back to what it was.

Git logo.

Of course, using version control tools like Git and Mercurial significantly decrease the chances of this happening. Still, the previous working version of the file you would want to recover could be one with uncommitted changes, not available from version control, especially if you don’t commit very frequently or you have a commit scheduling determined by more than just the code working after small changes, e.g., committing when a mini milestone is reached, committing after every successful build, etc.

So if you want to continue enjoying the benefits of auto-save while minimizing the possibility of this issue occurring, it’s best if you always use source control and have a frequent commit schedule.

3. No auto-formatting on save

VSCode "Format on Save" option

Many IDEs and text editors have a feature that automatically formats your code, so you can focus on the task at hand. For example, VSCode has built-in auto-formatting functionality, and also allows extensions to be written to provide more advanced or opinionated auto-formatters for various languages and file extensions.

These editors typically provide an option to format the file when it is saved. For manual saving, this makes sense, as usually you Ctrl/Cmd + S after making a small working change to a file and stop typing. This seems like a great point for formatting, so it’s a great idea to combine it with the saving action so there’s no need to think about it.

Prettier's format-on-save feature.

However, this feature isn’t very compatible with auto-save, and that’s why editors/IDEs like WebStorm and VSCode do not format your code for you on auto-save (you can still press Ctrl (Cmd) + S for it to happen, but isn’t one of the reasons for enabling auto-save to avoid this over-used keyboard shortcut?).

For one, it would probably be annoying for the cursor to change position due to auto-formatting as you’re typing. And then, there’s also the thing we already talked about earlier – the file won’t always be syntactically valid after an auto-save, and the auto-formatter will fail.

There is one way though, to have auto-formatting while still leaving auto save turned on, and that is enabling auto-formatting on commit. You can do this using Git pre-commit hooks provided by tools like Prettier and Husky.

Still only happens on commit though, so unless your code is not too messed up or you’re ready to format manually, you’ll have to endure the disorderliness until your next commit (or just press that Ctrl + S).

4. Can be distracting

If you have a tool in your project that performs an action when files are saved and indicate this visually in your editor, i.e, a pop-up notification to indicate recompilation, output in the terminal to indicate rebuilding, etc. With auto-save turned on, it can be a bit distracting for these actions to occur whenever you stop typing for a little while.

For instance, in this demo, notice how the terminal output in VSCode changes wildly from typing in a small bunch of characters:

The terminal output changes wildly from typing in a small bunch of characters.

Text editors have tried to fix this problem (and the resource usage problem too) by adding autosave delays; waiting a certain period of time since the file was last changed before actually committing the changes to disk.

This reduces the frequency at which the save-triggering actions occur and solves the issue to an extent, but it’s a trade-off as lack of immediate saving produces another non-ideal situation.

5. Auto-save is not immediate

The auto-save doesn't happen immediately.

Having an auto-save delay means that your code file will not be saved immediately. This can lead to some problems:

Data loss

Probably the biggest motivator for enabling auto-save is to reduce the likelihood that you’ll lose all the hard work you’ve put into creating code should an unexpected event like a system crash or the forced closing of the application occur. The higher your auto-save delay, the greater the chance of this data loss happening.

VSCode takes this into account; when its auto-save delay is set to 2 or more seconds, it will show the unsaved file indicator for a recently modified file, and the unsaved changes warning dialog if you try to close the file until the delay completes.

On-save action lags

Tools that run on save like build watchers will be held back by the auto-save delay. With manual save, you know that hitting Ctrl + S will make the watcher re-build immediately, but with delayed auto-save, you’ll have to experience the lag between your finishing and the watcher reacting to changes. This could impact the responsiveness of your workflow.

Why you should autosave your code

The reasons above probably won’t be enough to convince many devs to disable autosave. It is a fantastic feature after all. And now let’s look at some of the reasons why it’s so great to have:

1. No more Ctrl + S fatigue

Comic on Ctrl + S fatigue.
Image source: CommitStrip

If you use manual save, you probably press this keyboard shortcut hundreds or even thousands of times in a working day. Auto-saving helps you avoid this entirely. Even if you’re very used to it now, once you get used to your files being autosaved, you’ll be hesitant to back to the days of carrying out the ever-present chore of Ctrl + S.

Eradicating the need for Ctrl + S might even lower your chances of suffering from repetitive strain injury, as you no longer have to move your wrists and fingers over and over to type the key combination.

2. Save time and increase productivity

Save time photo.
Save icons created by Kiranshastry – Flaticon

The time you spend pressing the key combination to save a file might not seem like much, but it does add up over time. Turning auto-save on lets you use this time for more productive activities. Of course, if you just switched to auto-save, you’ll have to work on unlearning your Ctrl + S reflex for this to be a benefit to you.

3. Certainty of working with latest changes

Any good automation turns a chore into a background operation you no longer have to think about. This is what auto-save does to saving files; no longer are you unsure of whether you’re working with the most recent version of the file. Build watchers and other on-file-change tools automatically run after the file’s contents are modified, and display output associated with the latest file version.

4. Avoids errors due to file not being saved

Error output in the console.

This follows from the previous point. Debugging can be a tedious process and it’s not uncommon for developers to forget to save a file when tirelessly hunting for bugs. You probably don’t want to experience the frustration of scrutinizing your code, line after line, wondering how this particular bug can still exist after everything you’ve done.

You might think I’m exaggerating, but it might take up to 15 (20? 30??) minutes before you finally notice the unsaved file indicator. Especially if you’ve been trapped in a cycle of making small changes, saving, seeing the futility of your changes, making more small changes, saving… when you’re finally successful and pressing Ctrl + S is the only issue, you might just assume your change didn’t work, instead of checking for other possible reasons for the reoccurrence of the error.

5. Encourages smaller changes due to triggering errors faster

When a tool performs an action due to a file being saved, the new contents of the file might be invalid and trigger an error. For example, a test case might fail when a continuous testing tool re-runs or there might be a syntax error when a build watcher re-builds.

Since this type of on-file-change action occur more (possibly much more) when files are auto-saved when you type code that causes an error, it will take a shorter time for the action to happen and for you to be notified of the error. You would have made a smaller amount of code changes, which will make it easier to identify the source of the error.

Conclusion

Autosave is an amazing feature with the potential to significantly improve your quality of life as a developer when used properly. Still, it’s not without its disadvantages, and as we saw in this article, enabling or disabling it is a trade-off to live with. Choose auto-format on save and lower CPU usage, or choose to banish Ctrl + S forever and gain the certainty of working with up-to-date files.

What are your views concerning the autosave debate? Please let me know in the comments!

7 Unnecessary VSCode Extensions You Should Uninstall Now

By / Last updated on November 29, 2022

The number of VSCode extensions you have installed is one of the main reasons why you might find the editor slow and power-hungry, as every new extension added increases the app’s memory and CPU usage. It’s important to keep this number as low as possible to minimize this resource consumption, and also reduce the chance of the extensions clashing with one another or with native functionality.

There are a significant number of extensions in the Marketplace that provide functionality VSCode already has built-in. Typically, they were developed at a time when the feature was yet to be added, but now that this is no longer the case, they are now largely redundant additions, and some of them have been deprecated for this reason.

Below, we cover a list of these integrated VSCode features and extensions that provide them. Uninstalling these now dispensable extensions will increase your editor’s performance and efficiency.

We’ll be listing settings that control the behavior of these features. If you don’t know how to change settings, this guide will help.

Related: 10 Must-Have VSCode Extensions for Web Development

1. Auto closing of HTML tags

When you add a new HTML tag, this feature automatically adds the corresponding closing tag.

The closing tag for the div is automatically added.
The closing tag for the div is automatically added.

Extensions

These extensions add the auto-closing feature to VSCode:

  • Auto Close Tag (8.6M downloads): “Automatically add HTML/XML close tag, same as Visual Studio IDE or Sublime Text”.
  • Close HTML/XML Tag (284K downloads): “Quickly close last opened HTML/XML tag”.

Feature

These settings enable/disable the auto-closing of tags in VSCode:

  • HTML: Auto Closing Tags: “Enable/disable autoclosing of HTML tags”. It is true by default.
  • JavaScript: Auto Closing Tags: “Enable/disable automatic closing of JSX tags”. It is true by default.
  • TypeScript: Auto Closing Tags: “Enable/disable automatic closing of JSX tags”. It is true by default.
Settings for auto closing in the VSCode Settings UI.
Settings for auto-closing in the Settings UI.

Add the following to your settings.json file to turn them on:

settings.json

{
  "html.autoClosingTags": true,
  "javascript.autoClosingTags": true,
  "typescript.autoClosingTags": true
}

Note: VSCode doesn’t have native auto-closing support for .vue files. You can enable it by installing the Vue Languages Features (Volar) extension.

2. Auto trimming of trailing whitespace

An auto-trimming feature removes trailing whitespace from all the lines of a file, ensuring more consistent formatting.

Extensions

The extensions let you trim trailing whitespace from a file:

  • Trailing Spaces (1.2M downloads): “Highlight trailing spaces and delete them in a flash!”.
  • AutoTrim (27.5K downloads): “Trailing whitespace often exists after editing lines of code, deleting trailing words, and so forth. This extension tracks the line numbers where a cursor is active, and removes trailing tabs and spaces from those lines when they no longer have an active cursor”.

Feature

VSCode has a built-in setting that can automatically remove trailing spaces from a file. Instead of requiring a command or highlight, it automatically trims the file when it is saved, making it a background operation you no longer have to think about.

Trailing spaces are removed from the file on save.
Trailing spaces are removed from the file on save.

Here’s the setting:

  • Files: Trim Trailing Whitespace: “When enabled, will trim trailing whitespace when saving a file”. It’s false by default.
The auto trimming setting in the VSCode Settings UI.
The auto trimming setting in the Settings UI.

Add this to your settings.json file to enable auto trimming:

settings.json

{
  "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
}

You might want to turn this setting off for Markdown files since you have to put two or more spaces at the end of a line to create a hard line break in the output, as stated in the CommonMark specification. Add this to your settings.json file to do so.

settings.json

{
  "[markdown]": {
    "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": false
  }
}

Alternatively, you can simply use a backslash (\) instead of spaces to create a hard line break.

3. Path autocompletion

The path autocompletion feature provides a list of files in your project to choose from when importing a module or linking a resource in HTML.

Extensions

These extensions add the path autocompletion feature to VSCode:

  1. Path IntelliSense (8.5M downloads): “Visual Studio Code Plugin that autocompletes filenames”.
  2. Path Autocomplete (1.2M downloads): “Provides path completion for Visual Studio Code and VS Code for the web”.

Feature

VS Code already has native path autocompletion. When you’re about to type in a filename to import (typically when the opening quote is typed), a list of files in the project will be suggested, from which selecting one will automatically insert the filename.

4. Settings Sync

Ever since cross-device syncing support was added to VSCode, we no longer have to turn to third-party extensions for this.

Extensions

This is by far the most popular extension for syncing VSCode settings:

  • Settings Sync (3.5M downloads): “Synchronize Settings, Snippets, Themes, File Icons, Launch, Keybindings, Workspaces, and Extensions Across Multiple Machines Using GitHub Gist”.

Feature

You can read all about the built-in Settings Sync feature here.

Here are the Setting Sync options shown in the Settings UI.

Settings Sync options in the Settings UI.
Settings Sync options in the Settings UI.

You can link the settings data with a Microsoft or GitHub account, and you can customize what settings are saved.

The settings sync configuration dialog.
Settings sync configuration dialog.

5. Snippets for HTML and CSS

These extensions help you save time by adding common HTML and CSS snippets using abbreviations you can easily recall.

Extensions

These extensions bring convenient HTML and/or CSS snippets to VSCode:

  • HTML Snippets (8.7M downloads): “Full HTML tags including HTML5 snippets”.
  • HTML Boilerplate (1.9M downloads): “A basic HTML5 boilerplate snippet generator”.
  • CSS Snippets (105K downloads): “Shorthand snippets for CSS”.

Feature

Emmet is a built-in VSCode feature that provides HTML and CSS snippets like these extensions. As stated in the official VSCode Emmet guide, it is enabled by default in html, haml, pug, slim, jsx, xml, xsl, css, scss, sass, less, and stylus files.

When you start typing an Emmet abbreviation, a suggestion will pop up with auto-completion options. You’ll also see a preview of the expansion as you type in the VSCode’s suggestion documentation fly-out (if it is open).

Using Emmet in VSCode.
Using Emmet in VSCode.

As you saw in the demo, this:

ol>li*3>p.rule$

was expanded to this:

<ol>
  <li>
    <p class="rule1">r</p>
  </li>
  <li>
    <p class="rule2"></p>
  </li>
  <li>
    <p class="rule3"></p>
  </li>
</ol>

Notice how similar the abbreviations are to CSS selectors. This is by design; as stated on the official website, Emmet syntax is inspired by CSS selectors.

6. Bracket pair colorization

Bracket pair coloring is a popular syntax highlighting feature that colors brackets differently based on their order. It makes it easier to identify scope and helps in writing expressions that involve many parentheses, such as single-statement function composition.

Extensions

Until VSCode had it built-in, these extensions helped enable the feature in the editor:

  1. Bracket Pair Colorizer 2 (5.4M downloads): “A customizable extension for colorizing matching brackets”. It has now been deprecated.
  2. Rainbow Brackets: (1.9M downloads): “A rainbow brackets extension for VS Code”.

Feature

After seeing the demand for bracket pair coloring and the performance issues involved in adding the feature as an extension, the VSCode team decided to integrate it into the editor. In this blog, they say that the native bracket pair coloring feature is more than 10,000 times faster than Bracket Pair Colorizer 2.

Here’s the setting to enable/disable bracket pair colorization.

  • Editor > Bracket Pair Colorization: “Controls whether bracket pair colorization is enabled or not”. It is true by default, there’s been some debate about whether this should be the case here.
The bracket pair colorization option in the VSCode Settings UI.
The bracket pair colorization option in the Settings UI.

You can enable this by adding the following to your settings.json

settings.json

{
  "editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled": true
}

There is a maximum of 6 colors that can be used for successive nesting levels. Although each theme will have its maximum. For example, the Dracula theme has 6 colors by default, but the One Dark Pro theme has only 3.

Left: bracket pair colors in One Dark Pro theme. Right: bracket pair in Dracula theme.
Left: bracket pair colors in One Dark Pro theme. Right: bracket pair in Dracula theme.

Nevertheless, you can customize the bracket colors for any theme with the workbench.colorCustomizations setting.

  "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
    "[One Dark Pro]": {
      "editorBracketHighlight.foreground1": "#e78009",
      "editorBracketHighlight.foreground2": "#22990a",
      "editorBracketHighlight.foreground3": "#1411c4",
      "editorBracketHighlight.foreground4": "#ddcf11",
      "editorBracketHighlight.foreground5": "#9c15c5",
      "editorBracketHighlight.foreground6": "#ffffff",
      "editorBracketHighlight.unexpectedBracket.foreground": "#FF2C6D"
    }
  },

We specify the name of the theme in square brackets ([ ]), then we assign values to the relevant properties. The editorBracketHighlight.foregroundN property sets the color of the Nth set of brackets, and 6 is the maximum.

Now this will be the bracket pair colorization for One Dark Pro:

Customized bracket pair colorization for One Dark Pro theme.
Customized bracket pair colorization for One Dark Pro theme.

7. Auto importing of modules

With an auto-importing feature, when a function, variable, or some other member of a module is referenced in a file, the module is automatically imported into the file, saving time and effort.

The function is automatically imported from the file when referenced.
The function is automatically imported from the file when referenced.

If the module files are moved, the feature will help automatically update them.

Imports for a file are automatically updated on move.
Imports for a file are automatically updated on move.

Extensions

Here are some of the most popular extensions providing the feature for VSCode users:

  • Auto Import (2.7M downloads): “Automatically finds, parses, and provides code actions and code completion for all available imports. Works with Typescript and TSX”.
  • Move TS (606K downloads): “extension for moving typescript files and folders and updating relative imports in your workspace”.

Feature

You can enable or disable auto-importing modules in VSCode with the following settings.

  • JavaScript > Suggest: Auto Imports: “Enable/disable auto import suggestions”. It is true by default.
  • TypeScript > Suggest: Auto Imports: “Enable/disable auto import suggestions”. It is true by default.
  • JavaScript > Update Imports on File Move: “Enable/disable automatic updating of import paths when you rename or move a file in VS Code”. The default value is prompt, meaning that a dialog is shown to you, asking if you want to update the imports of the moved file. Setting it to alwayswill cause the dialog to be skipped, and never will turn off the feature entirely.
  • TypeScript > Update Imports on File Move: “Enable/disable automatic updating of import paths when you rename or move a file in VS Code”. Like the previous setting, it has possible values of prompt, always, and never, and the default is prompt.
One of the auto import settings in the Settings UI.
One of the auto import settings in the Settings UI.

You can control these settings with these settings.json properties:

{
  "javascript.suggest.autoImports": true,
  "typescript.suggest.autoImports": true,
  "javascript.updateImportsOnFileMove.enabled": "prompt",
  "typescript.updateImportsOnFileMove.enabled": "prompt"
}

You can also add this setting if you want your imports to be organized any time the file is saved.

"editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
    "source.organizeImports": true
}

This will remove unused import statements and arrange import statements with absolute paths on top, providing a hands-off way to clean up your code.

Conclusion

These extensions might have served a crucial purpose in the past, but not anymore for the most part, as much of the functionality they provide have been added as built-in VSCode features. Remove them to reduce the bloat and increase the efficiency of Visual Studio Code.

10 Must-Have VSCode Extensions for Web Development

By / Last updated on November 22, 2022

Visual Studio Code is one of the most widely-used source code editors out there, with over 136k stars on GitHub. Its popularity comes about due to its lightness, flexibility, open-source nature, simplicity, and extensibility.

Speaking of extensibility, VS Code has thousands of extensions you can install to ramp up your developer productivity and save yourself from mundane tasks. They are all available in the Visual Studio Code marketplace and the vast majority of them are completely free.

This article looks at 10 powerful Visual Studio Code extensions that significantly improve the web development experience. Example usage and installation links are provided for every one of them.

1. Prettier

Prettier is a useful tool that automatically formats your code using opinionated and customizable rules. It ensures that all your code has a consistent format and can help enforce a specific styling convention in a collaborative project involving multiple developers.

The Prettier extension for Visual Studio Code.

The Prettier extension for Visual Studio Code brings about a seamless integration between the code editor and Prettier, allowing you to easily format code using a keyboard shortcut, or immediately after saving the file.

Watch Prettier in action:

Pretter instantly formats the code after the file is saved.
Pretter instantly formats the code after the file is saved.

Install: Prettier – Code formatter – Visual Studio Marketplace

2. JavaScript Booster

This extension upgrades Visual Studio Code with code actions to perform common refactoring tasks that occur when programming with JavaScript.

The JavaScript Booster extension for Visual Studio Code.

They are dozens of code actions that it can carry out, including replacing an if...else statement with a ternary operator:

Replacing an "if...else" statement with a ternary operator using JavaScript Booster.

splitting a declaration and initialization into multiple statements:

Splitting a declaration and initialization into multiple statements using JavaScript Booster.

and converting a function to an arrow function:

Converting a function to an arrow function using JavaScript booster.

Install: JavaScript Booster – Visual Studio Marketplace

3. ESLint

ESLint is a tool that finds and fixes problems in your JavaScript code. It deals with both code quality and coding style issues, helping to identify programming patterns that are likely to produce tricky bugs.

The ESLint extension for Visual Studio Code.

The ESLint extension for Visual Studio Code enables integration between ESLint and the code editor. This integration allows ESLint to notify you of problems right in the editor.

For instance, it can use a red wavy line to notify of errors:

ESLint uses a red wavy line to notify of errors.

We can view details on the error by hovering over the red line:

Viewing error details by hovering over the red wavy line.

We can also use the Problems tab to view all errors in every file in the current VS Code workspace.

Using the "Problems" tab to view all errors in every file in the VS Code workspace.

Install: ESLint – Visual Studio Marketplace

4. GitLens

GitLens is another powerful extension that helps you take full advantage of Git source control in Visual Studio Code.

GitLens displays views containing essential repository data and information on the current file, such as file history, commits, branches and remotes.

The GitLens extension displaying essential repository data.

Place the cursor on any line in the editor and GitLens will display info on the latest commit where the line was changed:

Install: GitLens — Git supercharged – Visual Studio Marketplace

5. Live Server

The Live Server extension for VS Code starts a local server that serves pages using the contents of files in the workspace. The server will automatically reload when an associated file is changed.

The Live Server extension for Visual Studio Code.

In the demo below, a new server is launched quickly to display the contents of the index.html file. Modifying index.html and saving the file reloads the server instantly. This saves you from having to manually reload the page in the browser every time you make a change.

A demo of how to use the Live Server Extension for Visual Studio Code

As you saw in the demo, you can easily launch a new server using the Open with Live Server item in the right-click context menu for a file in the VS Code Explorer.

Launcing a new server with the "Open with Live Server" item in the right-click context menu for a file in the VS Code Explorer.

Install: Live Server – Visual Studio Marketplace

6. CSS Peek

The CSS Peek Extension lets you quickly view the CSS style definitions for various class names and IDs assigned in HTML.

The CSS Peek extension for Visual Studio Code.

There are three ways to use CSS Peek:

  • You can hold down the Ctrl key and hover over a class name or ID to peek at its definition.
  • You can use a keyboard shortcut to open a persistent definition window that displays the CSS definition of a class name or ID.
  • You can use a keyboard shortcut to navigate to where the definition is located in its CSS file.

Here is a demonstration of all these methods:

A demo of the three ways to use CSS Peek.

Install: CSS Peek – Visual Studio Marketplace

7. Intellisense for CSS Class Names in HTML

This extension can work hand in hand with CSS Peek, it provides code completion for the HTML class attribute from existing CSS definitions found in the current Visual Studio Code workspace.

You’ll appreciate the benefits of this extension when using third-party CSS libraries containing hundreds of classes.

Install: IntelliSense for CSS class names in HTML – Visual Studio Marketplace

8. JavaScript (ES6) Code Snippets

As the name suggests, this is an extension that comes fully loaded with heaps of time-saving code snippets for JavaScript, in ES6 syntax.

JavaScript (ES6) Code Snippets Extension for Visual Studio Code.

Here’s a demo where the imp and imd snippets from this extension are used to quickly import two modules with ES6 syntax.

A demo of how to use the JavaScript (ES6) Code Snippets extension.

Install: JavaScript (ES6) code snippets – Visual Studio Marketplace

9. Visual Studio Intellicode

Artificial Intelligence continues to increase worker productivity in various jobs, and developers are not left out. IntelliCode is a tool that produces smart code completion recommendations that make sense in the current code context. It does this using an AI model that has been trained on thousands of popular open-source projects on GitHub.

The Visual Studio Intellicode extension for Visual Studio Code.

When you type the . character to access an object method or fields, IntelliCode will suggest a list of members that are likely to be used in the present scenario. The items in the list are denoted using a star symbol, as shown in the following demo.

IntelliCode is available for JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, and a number of other languages.

Install: IntelliCode – Visual Studio Marketplace

10. VSCode Icons

Icon packs are available to customize the look of files of different types in Visual Studio Code. They enhance the look of the application and make it easier to identify and distinguish files of various sorts.

VSCode Icons is one the most popular icon pack extensions, boasting a highly comprehensive set of icons and over 11 million downloads.

vscode-icons extension for Visual Studio Code.

It goes beyond file extension differentiation, to provide distinct icons for files and folders with specific names, including package.json, node_modules and .prettierrc.

A select list of the icons provided by vscode-icons.

Install: vscode-icons – Visual Studio Marketplace

Conclusion

So we’ve gone through 10 essential extensions that aid web development in Visual Studio Code. Install them now to boost your developer productivity and raise your quality of life as a web developer.