Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Microsoft Visual Studio gains Angular editing smarts

news
Aug 19, 20201 min

The Angular Language Service for Visual Studio extension provides code autocompletions, error checking, quick info, and navigation inside Angular templates

Angular 2 primary
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The Angular Language Service, which provides code editors a mechanism to get completions, errors checks, hints, and navigation inside of Angular templates, has been ported to Microsoft’s Visual Studio IDE.

The service, for working with the Google-developed Angular JavaScript/TypeScript framework, is provided through the Angular Language Service for Visual Studio extension, now available in the Visual Studio Marketplace. Microsoft decided to support the service after noticing that many ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core users build their front ends in Angular. There was not a lot of support for Angular in Visual Studio, outside of Visual Studio’s standard features such as code completions, IntelliSense, and Go to Definition.

To use the extension, developers need Visual Studio version 16.5.0 or later. Angular Language Service works with external templates in separate HTML files as well as with in-line templates. When Visual Studio detects that a developer is opening an Angular file, it uses the Angular Language Service to read the tsconfig.json file and finds all templates in an application. Language services are then provided for any template opened. Microsoft is seeking feedback on the new extension, which was announced on August 5. Feedback can be provided on GitHub.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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