Upgrade Your Git Game in Visual Studio 2022

It only takes 20 minutes to upgrade your Git game in Visual Studio 2022, and Jessie Houghton, Visual Studio Program Manager at Microsoft, will show you how at the August 5-9 Visual Studio Live! developer conference being held at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

In their "Fast Focus" session, you'll learn how to leverage the newest Git features to your daily advantage (think AI assistance) and gain confidence in navigating common pitfalls, all with Git and GitHub.

Specifically, attendees are promised to learn how to:

• Leverage the newest Git tooling and GitHub updates
• Level up your Git usage to superpower you or your team's productivity
• Navigate common Git pitfalls

We caught up with Houghton to learn more about their session in a short Q&A.

VisualStudioLive! What inspired you to present a session on this topic?
Houghton: As the product manager for the Visual Studio Git tooling team, I spend my time talking to customers and creating new features to help solve their issues with version control. Presenting on these new features help more people learn about them and benefit from what's built into their favorite IDE!

Lots of people are comfortable with the very basics of Git, but the Visual Studio Git tooling UI can empower you to master powerful, advanced topics that are difficult to learn from the CLI alone.

Can you describe just one recent Git tooling feature introduced in Visual Studio 2022 and its significance for developers?
A favorite of mine is the multi-branch graph. Using Visual Studio to visualize your feature branch in relation to the main development branch gives you confidence when rebasing or merging changes. It demystifies the underlying concepts that govern how Git works, and it unlocks easier cherry-picking and comparing across branches. Learn more from the feature release blog, Multi-Branch Graph Available for General Audiences.

How does the integration of AI assistance with Git tooling enhance productivity and version control management in Visual Studio 2022?
One of the primary benefits of version control is access to the entire history of the project. Good documentation in commit messages and pull request descriptions empower teams to move faster and create better products. For example, when looking to diagnose a bug or implement a similar feature to an existing one, a descriptive commit message can make it super obvious which parts of the code are important to dig into and what important decisions went into an implementation. On the other hand poor quality messages require you to spend more time trying to figure out manually why the code works a certain way. The major problem we stumble into is that writing good documentation is tedious! AI is a great fit to solve this problem! By generating the first draft of your commit message or pull request description, AI empowers you to spend less time writing documentation and more time writing code, while reaping all of the benefits of history listed above. Also, even if you come across a poor description in the history, AI can explain those commits as well, helping you parse through large commits with ease.

What are one or two common Git pitfalls that developers face, and how does this session aim to address them?
Demonstrating the new AI features will help address the common pitfall of dealing with poor quality Git history, as was mentioned above. Another nightmare for developers is recovering from Git mistakes. We all make them, but fixing them in the command line is a painful process of looking up commands we rarely use. I'll share some common mistakes and their corresponding easy recovery mechanisms that the Visual Studio Git tooling offers you.

With the continuous updates to GitHub and Git tooling, how should developers stay informed and proficient in these changes?
Check out my posts on Visual Studio DevBlogs and all of the other great Visual Studio updates hosted there, as well.

In terms of collaboration and project management, how do the new features in Git and GitHub improve the workflow for teams?
One example was detailed above. For most teams, version control is a requirement, so learning how to maximize the efficiency of your interactions with Git allows you to focus more on your code. For example, using features like referencing GitHub issues in your commits helps your teammates stay updated on your work and can update the backlog automatically.

For someone looking to "level up" their Git usage, what foundational practices would you recommend mastering first?
We've got an entire learning library on YouTube with Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced content to help you at any level of Git usage, Git Tooling in Visual Studio - YouTube. The beginner series will get you started with the most important basics and major work flow.

How do the enhancements in Visual Studio 2022's Git tooling reflect the evolving needs of modern software development?
Version control is an integral tool for the modern software developer. There are no more excuses for code to not be managed, backed up, and hosted in the cloud on GitHub. Coupled with the exciting demands of an AI transformed world, developers need their IDEs to keep up with the demand to provide solid version control integration and AI driven innovation.

What advice do you have for developers who are looking to seamlessly integrate these new Git features into their existing projects?
If you haven't checked out the Git tooling in Visual Studio in a while, take a second look. We've made tons of improvements and added additional features that may make you second guess using the command line. If you're not using Git already, click the "Add to Source Control" button in the status bar in Visual Studio to get started.

Note: Those wishing to attend the conference can save hundreds of dollars by registering early, according to the event's pricing page. "Register for VSLive! at Microsoft HQ by the Early Bird deadline of June 7 to save up to $400 and secure your seat for intensive developer training at Microsoft HQ in Redmond!" said the organizer of the developer conference.

Posted by David Ramel on 04/18/2024