Powering your GitHub
Lucas Marçal Coutinho
Posted on October 1, 2021
🇧🇷 Caso prefira ler em outra língua, esse artigo foi publicado também em português. Clique AQUI para acessar!
Introduction
Git, a code versioning system, was created by none other than Linus Torvalds to manage Linux kernel code versions. It later became popular and is widely used today.
Over time, tools and platforms have been created to facilitate, improve or complement the use of Git. Thus arises GitHub, the largest open-source code repository in the world, and (as humans are never satisfied…) the need to improve its user experience, giving rise to some browser extensions.
Fun fact: Currently GitHub belongs to Microsoft.
Believe it or not, ladies and gentlemen, there is room for improvement on GitHub. Until recently there was no dark mode on the site, something we solved through extensions (something you can still use if you don't like the native theme).
So, make yourself a cup of coffee and stay tuned, for here comes the Octocat with steroids!
1. Enhanced GitHub
This extension adds some new functionality to the site, making it possible to see the size of each repository and each file, giving the option to copy the file's contents and many other little things!
2. GitHub Hovercard
GitHub Hovercard shows nice floating cards when hovering over a user/repository/issue/commit anywhere on GitHub, giving you instant access to some information.
This extension has a Firefox version, but as of this writing it appears to have been removed from the Mozilla catalog.
If you use this browser and are interested in this extension, I recommend keeping an eye on its repository.
3. OctoLinker
The OctoLinker enables easy navigation between project codes, transforming language-specific instructions (such as include, require or import) into links that redirect to the file referenced in the code or to an external site.
4. Octotree
Octotree, also makes it easy to analyze and explore the GitHub code, only in a little different way. It adds a sidebar to the website, where you can navigate more efficiently between project folders and files.
It has some paid features like icon themes, multiple tabs and font setting. I recommend you try it out to see if it's worth it or if even the free version suits your needs well.
If you don't like Octotree or have any problems using it, a totally free alternative extension is Gitako.
5. Refined GitHub
This extension simplifies the GitHub interface, adds loads of new features, like fixing merge conflicts with one click, copying all content from a given file, and the ability to download specific folders.
Bônus: Sourcegraph
Sourcegraph, brings to its hosted code (not necessarily only on GitHub) some other features that facilitate navigation between the project codes and its analysis, such as the possibility to go to the exact point where a variable was declared, search every time it appears in all project files and documentation floating cards when hovering over something.
Conclusion
Finally, I need to clarify and alert you to some important points.
- For personal taste and not being exactly an advanced programmer, I don't currently use any of the extensions listed above. However, I thought it might be useful to someone, testing them all before writing this text.
- Yes, extensions can bring a lot of new functionality. However, this comes at a cost and is often the negative impact on browser performance and page loading.
- Be careful! There are malicious extensions that can spy on your browsing history, improperly access sensitive data, or other equally bad things. Don't go out installing just any one, see the ratings, read the comments, research it.
Octocat told me that soon there will be a new “git push” here with more extension tips, stay tuned 🐙!
Feedback!
Feel free to say what you think of this article, ask questions, point out a topic that was not very well explained or that needed to be talked about, suggest other topics and complement what has already been said. To the next!
Posted on October 1, 2021
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