(Source=”https://medium.com/better-programming/9-productivity-browser-extensions-for-developers-2020-edition-eb84cda6f038″)
Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash
As web developers, we have the luxury of making use of web browser extensions. Web browser extensions are extremely helpful when it comes to enhancing your work environment and boosting coding productivity.
We’re approaching 2020, and many new extensions have popped up. I’ve decided to gather the most useful extensions for web developers and put them in a list.
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” — Isaac Newton
1.Refined GitHub
Refined Github simplifies the GitHub interface and adds useful features.
Refined Github
“Our hope is that GitHub will notice and implement some of these much-needed improvements. So if you like any of these improvements, please email GitHub support about doing it.” — Refined Github creators.
Install guide
- Chrome extension
- Firefox add-on
- Opera extension: Use this Opera extension to install the Chrome version.
2.Hacker Tab
Hacker Tab is useful if you’d like to learn about trending open-source projects. Every time you open a new tab, you’ll see a list of all the new projects. You can switch between weekly, daily, and monthly time schedules, and you can also switch between different programming languages.
Hacker Tab — Replace browser new tab screen with GitHub trending projects.
Install guide
3.Daily 2.0 — Source for Busy Developers
Being a brilliant software developer means that you should always strive to learn more and stay updated about the latest technologies out there.
Daily 2.0
Every single day, new and updated software development technologies are being released across the internet. For us as developers, staying updated is a huge hassle. Daily was made by developers for developers to help us focus on code instead of constantly searching for development news around the web.
Install guide
4.No Coin
There are websites out there that force our CPUs to mine cryptocurrencies for them. No Coin is a tiny browser extension aiming to block coin miners, such as Coinhive, who are using your computer resources without your consent.
Trusted by thousands of users, No Coin provides you with a safe and reliable way to block miners from using your CPU and power. No Coin also features an easy way to allow miners for a limited time in case you need to pass a captcha or a short-link that requires mining.
Install guide
5.JSON Formatter
This extension makes JSON easy to read. JSON Formatter is open-source.
JSON Formatter adds a page action to pretty-print JSON. Unlike similar extensions, this simply pretty-prints it. It doesn’t add any kind of viewer, colors, or collapsing.
Install guide
6.Pomodoro Timer
Pomodoro Timer extension
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method. There are six steps in the original technique:
1.Decide on the task to be done.
2.Set the Pomodoro timer (traditionally to 25 minutes).
3.Work on the task.
4.End work when the timer rings and put a checkmark on a piece of paper.
5.If you have fewer than four checkmarks, take a short break (three to five minutes), and then go to step two.
6.After four Pomodoros, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), reset your checkmark count to zero, and then go to step one.
I’m using Pomodoro as you read this. Pomodoro is a practical way of getting things done, and it helps you learn how to focus and manage your time. If you’re curious to learn more about how to focus, this book was helpful to me.
Install guide
7.Meta SEO Inspector
This extension is useful for inspecting the metadata found inside webpages that’s usually not visible while browsing.
Inspect your meta tags to ensure a good SEO score
This extension is mainly aimed at web developers that need to verify the HTML of their site to follow the Webmasters’ Google Guidelines, but it’s also useful for anyone who wants to see page content that’s not usually visible.
Alerts are shown when the metadata is not within certain ranges — for example when the description tag is too short or too long.
SEO is a language of its own. I suggest reading through “3 Months to No.1: The 2019 “No-Nonsense” SEO Playbook for Getting Your Website Found on Google” for best practices and tips for SEO.
Install guide
8.OctoLinker
Navigate through projects on GitHub efficiently with OctoLinker. OctoLinker turns language-specific statements like include, require, or import into links.
OctoLinker showcase
The source code is on GitHub: https://github.com/OctoLinker/OctoLinker
Install guide
9.Octotree
Octotree is an extension that displays a code tree on GitHub. It’s great for exploring project source code without having to download many repositories to your machine.
Install guide