Microsoft Reveals 2022 IDE Visual Studio Productivity Tools

On 31st August 2021, Microsoft announced a suite of productivity tool extensions for its Visual Studio 2022 IDE. The highly-anticipated features are already available for download on the VS marketplace, the company noted.

Kick-Starting Productivity From the Onset

The Microsoft Dev team created the Power Productivity Tools (PPT) to help developers improve efficiency for the 2022 Visual Studio IDE. 

Users can not only customize them, but can also do a single installation to save time. That will allow the measuring of productivity to start immediately after successful downloads.

What the Extension Packs Include

They will range from error message viewing to HTML copying. Here are some examples of what’s in store:

Copy as HTML

Copy-pasting code to draft documentation, work items, or specs leads to formatting loss, leaving no option but to do tedious manual corrections. This extension will keep the original programming snippets intact. 

Match Margin

Match margin will show all the locations containing a particular piece of code. By moving the cursor on the target text, users can highlight it for easier spotting across the Editor and Editor margin. 

Peek Help

Hitting F1 prompts Visual Studio to redirect Help to a developer’s browser. The action leads to constant swapping to and from the VS IDE, leading to productivity loss. 

Now, users can press F1+ ALT for Peek Help to avail assistance in the Editor window.

Solution Error Visualizer

The Solution Error Visualizer shows errors via the VS Solution Explorer and squiggles. To do this, it only needs the hovering of the cursor on a code file or project.

Previous Extensions Now Inbuilt

Avid PPT extensions users will be happy to know that staples like Quick Launch Tasks and Go To Definition are now inbuilt in VS. 

Here’s how to find them:

• Quick Launch Tasks - CTRL+ Q
• Go To Definition - CTRL+ Click

Microsoft welcomes developers to share their feedback regarding what it can do better to improve the upcoming Visual Studio experience. 

Looking for productivity tool alternatives? Here’s TechJury’s curated list of top productivity apps.