Issue #67  (Deprecated Extensions)08/02/23

When searching for extensions in the VS Code marketplace, the marketplace info will now let you know if an extension is deprecated. For example, if you do a search for "TSLint", an older extension by Microsoft, you'll see the following:
 

Notice the title of the extension is given the strike-through treatment, and there's a notice that explains why the extension is deprecated.

There are three reasons an extension would be deprecated:

• The extension is no longer maintained by the author
• The extension has been replaced by another similar extension
• The extension's functionality is now built in to VS Code

Below shows the MDX extension that was deprecated in favour of one called VSCode MDX.
 

VS Code extensions that are deprecated due to lack of maintenance can still be installed. But if an extension is deprecated in favour of a newer extension, then VS Code won't let you install the older version anymore.

A good example of an extension that was deprecated due to being added to VS Code's settings is the popular Bracket Pair Colorizer shown below:

Thanks to these features that were added to the marketplace last year, there's not really much you need to do to find out if an extension is deprecated. You'll see the applicable warnings when you search for extensions and you'll also get a warning in your editor when you have an extension that's now deprecated, as shown in the screen shot below.



Now on to this week's hand-picked links!
 

VS Code Tools

JavaScript Debugger (Nightly) — An extension for debugging Node.js, Chrome, Edge, WebView2, VS Code extensions, and more. There's also a non-nightly version.

Insert Unicode — VS Code extension that adds commands for inserting Unicode characters and Emoji to your files, executed via the command palette or a keyboard shortcut.

Transform Your Side Hustle with LoopGenius — In just 30 seconds, generate a vibrant landing page, target your perfect audience, and let our AI-powered Loops do the heavy lifting of customer attraction, all with a simple click.  Sponsor 

Code Time — A popular open-source VS Code extension for automatic programming metrics and time tracking right inside VS Code

VS Code Articles

Shrinking VS Code with Name Mangling — A super-interesting piece from the VS Code team on how they reduced the size of Visual Studio Code's shipped JavaScript by 20% using a technique called 'name mangling'.

VS Code Shortcuts to Navigate Your Editor Like Tarzan in the Jungle — Not a lengthy list of shortcuts, but you might find one or two you'll want to remember.

Bytes: Your Favourite JavaScript Newsletter — I subscribe to a lot of newsletters, but this is definitely one I look forward to. Entertaining with lots of cool and useful JavaScript coding tidbits, news, and tools.   Sponsor 

Twitter Thread: What Are Your Most Recently Run VS Code Commands? — Ahmed Elsakaan on Twitter poking fun at some of the problems you can run into using ESLint, TypeScript, and Prisma in VS Code. The follow up discussion might also be of interest.
 

Best of the Rest

Avalonia UI — An open source UI framework for building desktop, mobile, web and embedded applications using a .NET single codebase. Includes a JetBrains extension and coming soon to VS Code.

Graphite — A fast, simple code review platform designed for engineers who want to write and review smaller pull requests and ship faster.

JavaScript Playground — A simple JS playground with a console on the side that provides instant live feedback as you type (which can be disabled).

Suggestions?

If you have any link suggestions, including a tool, article, or other resources related to VS Code or another IDE, send it via DM on X: @LouisLazaris or just hit reply on this email.

That's it for this issue.

Happy VS Coding!
Louis
VSCode.Email
@LouisLazaris