Following on from my list of VS Code extensions, this is a list of Visual Studio extensions I use.

Extensions I’m Using

• Productivity Power Tools
  • An extension pack installer will install each of the individual components of Productivity Power Tools for Visual Studio 2022, including extensions for:
    • Copy As Html
    • Fix Mixed Tabs
    • Shrink Empty Lines 2022
    • Solution Error Visualizer
  • Available for all versions of Visual Studio
• Markdown Editor
  • VS Code is my editor of choice for Markdown, but I usually install this extension for quick edits to a solution’s ReadMe file
  • Supports VS2022
• Output Enhancer
  • Adds custom styling to the Visual Studio output window
  • Supports VS2012-2022
• Visual Studio Spell Checker
  • VS2017 and VS2019
• Viasfora
  • This extension improves the readability of your code by adding:
    • Matching color brackets
    • (Additional) keyword highlighting
  • See https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2021/09/29/bracket-pair-colorization
• Code Maid
  • For those who aren’t willing to pay for a ReSharper license (like me, see below), then I would recommend this extension
  • I have also used and like Visual Assist but Code Maid is a bit simpler and more focused in my opinion

Visual Studio Extensions To Evaluate

• Fine Code Coverage
  • This is a basic unit test coverage tool recommended by a colleague in work that I plan to try out.
• Slow-Cheetah
  • An extension for transformations for XML files (such as app.config) and JSON files

Extensions I No Longer Use

• ReSharper
  • I recently was given a ReSharper license in work, and after using ReSharper for a week, after a break of several years, found myself deeply unimpressed. The extension impacted Visual Studio’s performance, the additional refactorings that it offered weren’t that useful (the default refactorings in Visual Studio now cover the majority of my use cases), and while the code suggestions were useful, in a world of .editorconfig files, I’m unconvinced it is worth the performance hit or the yearly subscription fee.
• Trailing Whitespace Visualizer
  • This extension is simply no longer required when using an .editorconfig file.
• Prettier
  • For JavaScript
  • For C#
  • Again, with the use of .editorconfig files, I’m not sure I see a continued need for Prettier.
• NUnit 3 Test Adapter
  • An adapter for running NUnit tests in Visual Studio. This used to be an essential extension for me as I have little time for MSTest. However, xUnit is a modern rewrite of the NUnit framework, and can be run directly in Visual Studio without an adaptor. I’m seeing more and more projects choosing to use xUnit over NUnit.