Ask HN: What developer tools would you like to see?

I wish there was a module bundler like Webpack or Parcel that was not super nondeterministic. Something that Just Works(tm), where error messages are consistent+predictable, and configuration isn't a nightmare.

> - A note-taking tool that allows me to organize notes in a graph with links between them (like a wiki), not as files and folders in a tree, which enforces the invariant that every note is transitively reachable from some "root" (by following links) so I never lose a note.

There is a class of note taking apps that's becoming increasingly popular (at least I perceive it that way) that does this. They store notes in local Markdown files, and when you link between pages, they can build and render a graph based on them. For example:

- Obsidian: https://obsidian.md/

- Logseq: https://logseq.com/

- Joplin: https://joplinapp.org/ (not sure if it's built-in, but there's a plugin: https://github.com/treymo/joplin-link-graph)

Yes! Rendered markdown comments - especially with mermaid or equivalent diagram support and the ability to link to functions/classes/etc - directly in the IDE would be amazing!

An IDE that provides a linear view of your code base. Follow code paths as though they were all inline, e.g. expand views of function/method internals inside the calling function, etc. No more changing files/modules.

I would just like the see the suckier parts of VSCode be fixed (to my liking ... meaning I get that different people have different preferences)

1. Give me keyboard macros (emacs) https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/KeyboardMacros

2. Select modes. #1 generally is better with a start selection, end selection mode. As in Start recording, search for `(`, start selecting, search for `)`, copy, do something, paste.

3. Fix the Undo. AFAICT the undo feature in VSCode was made with zero thought. I don't know if it just undoes the last N keystrokes or what it's criteria area but IMO it fails to even try to do what a user (me) would want compared to the editor I used previously which seemed to have some heuristics. (undo cursor moves in groups? undo single words?) I don't know what it's algo was but I never had to retype stuff where as in VSCode I'm always having to retype stuff as undo undoes too much. Another nice feature if my previous editor was I could undo to the last save by just holding Ctrl-Z/Cmd-Z and when it hit the last save it would pause with a prompt. I found that super useful. VSCode I have to close the file (and therefore lose undo/redo past the save) or I have to just super carefully undo and try to remember where the last save happened. 3b. wish undo undid the last multi-cursor addition.

4. Add true column selection/virtual space. Multi-cursor mode is great but it doesn't handle many cases the column selection does. https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/13960

5. Fix the broken "go to" (search result, definition, etc...). In most editors when you choose to "go to" a search result (search all, click a result) the editor shows the result in the active window. Example: Search for "name-of-method", results show the definition and the declaration in the same file. Open 2 windows, make one window active, click the definition in the search results, the active window "goes to" the definition. Click the 2nd window, click declaration in the search result, the 2nd window goes to the declaration. Now you can reference both. This doesn't work in VSCode. In VSCode clicking the 2nd result will move the first window making it frustrating to try to reference things in the same file. They added that you can drag the search result to a specific window but unfortunately there are tons of other places in the editor that default to moving whatever window is already showing that file, rather than the active window. So, if you were trying to see something in that window and had chosen different window as to where you wanted the result to appear you're S.O.L. No other editor I've used in 40yrs has had this (arguably) broken behavior.

Yea, I know, submit PRs