AzureFeeds

Let me walk you through 12 features that have become indispensable in my daily coding life.

• Understanding Code Changes & History
  
  
  
  1. Inline Blame Annotations: GitLens adds small annotations at the end of each line of code, showing who last modified that line, when, and in which commit. This feature provides instant context about the code’s history without leaving your editor. While working on an e-commerce platform’s checkout process, I noticed an unexpected behavior. With inline blame, I quickly identified that the change was introduced in a recent sprint, saving hours of backtracking. 
  
  
  2. Heatmap: This feature adds a color-coded heatmap to the scroll bar, visually representing the age of the code. Newer changes appear in warmer colors, while older code is shown in cooler colors, helping you quickly identify recent modifications. During a critical bug fix for our user authentication system, the heatmap feature helped me zero in on recently modified code sections. This visual aid cut my debugging time in half compared to manually searching through commit logs.
  
  
  3. Gutter Blame: Similar to inline blame, but displayed in the gutter (the area to the left of your code). This provides a less intrusive way to view blame information. During a recent refactoring of our user profile management system, Gutter Blame became my go-to feature. It displays blame information in the gutter area to the left of the code, providing a less intrusive way to view authorship details. This helped me understand the evolution of our codebase without cluttering the actual code area, making it easier to focus on the refactoring task at hand while still having quick access to historical context.
  
  
  
  


• Streamlining Git Operations
  
  
  
  1. Interactive Rebase Editor: GitLens provides a user-friendly interface for performing interactive rebases. This simplifies complex Git operations like squashing, reordering, or editing commits, making it easier to maintain a clean commit history. While preparing a major feature release, I used this to clean up my commit history, making code review a breeze for my team members.
  
  
  2. Git Command Palette: GitLens adds many Git commands to VS Code’s command palette, allowing you to perform complex Git operations without leaving your editor or remembering Git CLI commands. This feature has virtually eliminated my need to switch to the terminal for Git operations, speeding up my workflow significantly.
  
  
  3. Branch Comparisons: Easily compare the current branch with another branch, showing which commits are ahead or behind. This is useful for understanding the state of your work relative to other branches. During a recent sprint to integrate a new payment gateway, this feature was invaluable. I could quickly compare our feature branch with the main branch, ensuring we hadn’t missed any critical updates and made the integration process much smoother.
  
  
  
  


• Enhancing Collaboration
  
  
  
  1. Remote Provider Integrations: GitLens integrates with popular Git hosting services like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. This allows you to open files, commits, and branches on these platforms directly from VS Code, enhancing collaboration and code review processes. When coordinating with remote team members on our backend, being able to quickly reference GitHub issues and pull requests directly from VS Code improved our communication efficiency.
  
  
  2. Worktrees: GitLens streamlines the management of multiple working trees, allowing you to work on different branches simultaneously without switching contexts. This is particularly useful for handling multiple features or bug fixes concurrently. This feature has been a lifesaver when juggling multiple feature branches for a CMS project, allowing me to work on different features simultaneously without constant context switching.
  
  
  
  


• Detailed Code Insights
  
  
  
  1. Code Lens: Located above functions, classes, and other code blocks, Code Lens displays authorship information. It shows who wrote or last modified the code block, when, and in which commit. This feature helps you quickly understand who’s responsible for different parts of your codebase. While onboarding new team members to our analytics dashboard project, Code Lens helped them quickly understand who was responsible for different components, accelerating their learning curve.
  
  
  2. Status Bar Blame: When you click on a line, GitLens shows detailed information about the last commit that modified that line in the status bar. This includes the author, date, message, and commit hash, providing quick insights without disrupting your workflow. When working on our API service, the Status Bar Blame became my silent companion. It quietly displays commit information for the current line in the status bar, giving me instant context without cluttering my code view. This subtle feature has been particularly useful during pair programming sessions, allowing us to quickly reference when and why certain changes were made without breaking our coding flow.
  
  
  
  


• Customization and Productivity Boosters
  
  
  
  1. Customizable Settings: GitLens offers extensive customization options. You can adjust or disable various features to tailor the extension to your specific needs and preferences. This ensures that GitLens enhances rather than disrupts your workflow. I’ve tailored GitLens to show me the information I need most for each project, reducing cognitive load and increasing focus.
  
  
  2. Side Bar Views:
     
     
     
     • File History: Shows a chronological list of commits that affected the current file.
     
     
     • Line History: Displays how a specific line or selection of code has changed over time.
     
     
     • Search Commits: Allows you to search through your repository’s commit history using various criteria.
     
     
     • Compare: Enables side-by-side comparison of different branches, tags, or commits.
     
     
     • The file and line history views have become my go-to for understanding the evolution of complex systems.
     
     
     
     
  
  
  
  

Download GitLens for VS Code

Overall, GitLens has not only saved me countless hours but has also improved the quality of our codebase and team collaboration. Whether you’re a solo developer or part of a large enterprise team, these features can significantly enhance your Git workflow in VS Code.

Happy coding, and may your commits always be clean and your merges conflict-free!