5 Useful VS Code Extensions for A Better Coding Experience
Tags: webdev, vscode, learning, programming
Published: 2023-04-29 20:55:37

Not so long ago, work experiences got me to a position where I had to start getting used to using VS Code, and for someone who was used to only IntelliJ, I felt the impact and it was a very different world.

So after some time exploring it and with recommendations from more senior fellow developers, I set up a nice coding environment with some really helpful general extensions. Here's my top 5:

#1. [Prettier](https://prettier.io/)

![Prettier](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/pw7yyqyza156w7w83lfr.png)

This a really good code formatter that helps to keep our code in order. It supports many programming languages and can be customized to suit our needs. It's worth a try since it makes the code look much cleaner and ensures that it's consistent and easy to read.

#2. [SonarLint](https://sonarsource.com/)

![SonarLint](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/n4ifj4d06p039ptg0xkt.png)

SonarLint is like a spell checker, highlights vulnerabilities as we start writing our code, it provides tips and guidance about how to fix them before the code is even committed, we just have to pay attention to what's the line causing the alarm and check how to fix/improve it and if it's worth or not because there could be small and not that big deal highlights that we could just ignore.

In VS Code supports analysis of C, C++, HTML, Java, JavaScript, PHP, Python and TypeScript.

#3. [GitLens - Git supercharged](https://www.gitkraken.com/gitlens)

![GitLens](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7uyd8vgm1nxmi4cpgnue.png)

GitLens provides a rich set of features to visualize and understand the code from a Git perspective, it helps to get some good insights into the who, why, and when of changes in the code, making it easier to understand the evolution of the codebase. It can be particularly useful when working on large teams where code changes can be difficult to track and understand.

#4. ErrorLens

![ErrorLens](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vpi8185nytorc20fsn9f.png)

Similar to SonarLint, this one does the highlights in a pretty visual way, i find useful to use them both but if you try SonarLint and don't like it, try ErrorLens.

#5. [Code Spell Checker](https://streetsidesoftware.com/)

![Code Spell Checker](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/9amjib6gp2hqxizai50x.png)

With Code Spell Checker you can catch spelling errors in variable, functions and methods names, comments, and other areas where spelling errors can go unnoticed. This helps to improve the readability and maintainability of our code and it can be particularly useful for developers who are not native English speakers.

Supports many programming languages and is highly customizable, you could even add custom dictionaries and ignore specific words or code blocks.

Which extension would you recommend? Comment about it! 👇

**_If you know somebody whom this could be of help please share!_** 🙌 

**_Thank you for reading!_**

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