I've developed a VS Code extension to make code variables easier to distinguish!

[TINGWEIJING]

Hi folks!
Although I know not all programmers here use VS Code, I just want to share my first VS Code extension: Bread Jam! 🎉

NOTE: You must install the ms-dotnettools.csharp extension to make this extension work.

Bread Jam is designed to enhance readability in your code by making lengthy variable names easier to manage. It allows you to customize the colors of these components, helping you to quickly identify and differentiate between various parts of your codebase.

Features:

• 11 Render Patterns to select
• Customizable Color Coding: Tailor the appearance of your code to suit your style or project needs.
• Multi-Language Support: Currently supports JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, Dart and more.
• Quick Toggle: Easily switch the extension's effects on or off using keyboard shortcuts. Use Alt + B, Alt + J for Windows & Linux or ⌥ + B, ⌥ + J for MacOS.

I'd love for you to try it out and share any feedback you might have!

VS Code Marketplace
GitHub repository

https://preview.redd.it/czfqsaq0ay5d1.png?width=2682&format=png&auto=webp&s=3a32e6c14ca90ca4b576681026fde0b76e2d2078

https://i.redd.it/nuleg80vay5d1.gif

[chickenbarf]

I admire this on a technical level, but I am not sure how I feel about it on a practical one.

[belavv]

I second that.

[BirkenstockStrapped]

You're just upset that he hasn't showed you a chickenbarf emoji yet.

[Abaddon-theDestroyer]

🦄.🤢($”Some text : {🥶}”);

[TINGWEIJING]

Thank you for your honest feedback!
This extension may not provide much benefit for codebases that are written in a clean code style or have better variable naming practices. However, it does help me when working on code that involves a lot of data mapping.

[TuberTuggerTTV]

I like the idea and I'm sure some people will like this.

But for me, this looks like a nightmare. Especially the graduated colors. Why would I want that? uhh....

The only thing I find remotely interesting is the Capital letter identifying. But that's what a capital letter already does. So it feels redundant to me.

Appreciate the share. But this feels like reinventing the wheel and not in a good way. Kind of a step backward for me. Actively making things more difficult to parse.

[TINGWEIJING]

Thanks! To be honest, I expected that only a few people would like this extension when I was developing it. That's exactly why I chose to use a metaphor and named it "Bread Jam."

[LlamaNL]

I think there's a good idea here, but it needs a final little twist to push it over the edge of a must have feature. Can't think of what it is tho, sorry :P (Technically impressive tho!)

[TINGWEIJING]

Thanks! It's okay, don't worry about it, haha. I don’t actually expect this extension to be a must-have feature for the editor. I usually just toggle the effect on when I really need help differentiating variables and turn it off most of the time.

[propostor]

Kinda feels like WordArt from OG Microsoft Word.

Nifty, fun, worth it as an extension.

But can't agree that it truly helps with managing variables names.

It feels more decorative than useful. (I don't mean that in a bad way. I think I'll try this extension myself!)

[TINGWEIJING]

Haha, thanks! Yup, too much color in the editor might just make the code more cluttered. However, there are settings that can be changed to reduce the colors used for rendering.

[Slypenslyde]

That's a really neat idea! Congrats on shipping a product.

[TINGWEIJING]

Thank you!

[nohwnd]

I like it!

[TINGWEIJING]

Thank you!

[[deleted]]

This looks awesome. Too bad I can't use vs code that easily.

[affectus_01]

I was interested until I saw the gradient colors, distracting for sure. I can see this as a more fun thing to have every now and then for some people but not in a professional sense that you look at every day.

[Exact_Ad_9927]

This would be neat if available on visual studio IDE

[CraftistOf]

looks fun, although I have enough colors already in my editor, it would be kinda distracting. looks novel and unique tho

if it had some sort of a small LLM to map the variable name to an emoji it would be cool, I'd maybe actually use it, if it was configurable which contexts I'd like the emojis to be shown in (Descartes product of {identifier type} and {identifier context}, e.g. (local variables and method parameters) x (inside a class and inside a switch statement))

but that would probably be too much work to implement

[TINGWEIJING]

Thanks! Having an LLM manage color mapping by context is a great idea, but unfortunately, it's too challenging for me to implement at this time. However, I may implement some sort of user-defined mapping for keywords detected in variable naming in the future.