TODO Highlight

The TODO Highlight extension by Wayou Liu for Visual Studio Code is a productivity-enhancing tool designed to help developers easily spot important notes, reminders, and tasks in their code. It highlights keywords like TODO, FIXME, and custom tags in bright, visible colors within the code editor, making it easier to manage and track outstanding work across a project.

TODO Highlight Extension for Visual Studio Code

When working on a large or ongoing project, it’s common for developers to leave comments in the code as reminders of tasks, issues, or ideas for future improvements. These often take the form of // TODO or // FIXME comments. However, without a visual indicator, such notes can easily be forgotten or overlooked.

The TODO Highlight extension addresses this by automatically detecting and visually emphasizing these keywords with customizable highlight colors. Developers can instantly locate all actionable comments within their code files, helping them stay organized and avoid missing critical updates or fixes.

Key Features

1. Keyword Highlighting
   Automatically highlights predefined terms such as TODO and FIXME with distinctive background and foreground colors in the code editor.

2. Customizable Keywords and Colors
   Users can define their own keywords (e.g., BUG, NOTE, REVIEW) and assign specific colors to each for better categorization.

3. Highlight Across All Files
   Supports highlighting in multiple files within a workspace, ensuring no TODO gets buried or forgotten.

4. Searchable Task List
   Integrates with the command palette to quickly search and list all highlighted comments in the current workspace.

5. Flexible Configuration
   Offers configuration via settings files, allowing developers to adapt the extension to team-specific standards or personal workflows.

6. Lightweight and Fast
   The extension is optimized for speed and doesn’t impact overall editor performance, even in large codebases.

Conclusion

The TODO Highlight extension is a simple yet powerful addition to Visual Studio Code that helps developers stay focused, organized, and on top of their codebase. By highlighting important in-line notes like TODO and FIXME, it ensures that small tasks or future work items are never forgotten. Ideal for solo developers and teams alike, it streamlines the development process by turning passive comments into active, visible reminders.