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InfoQ Homepage News JetBrains Rider 2023.3 EAP 2 is out: Debugger Data Flow Analysis, All-in-One Diff Viewer and More

JetBrains Rider 2023.3 EAP 2 is out: Debugger Data Flow Analysis, All-in-One Diff Viewer and More

JetBrains released Rider 2023.3 EAP 2. This Early Access Program for Rider contains such features as Debugger Data Flow Analysis, Quick Search feature and All-In-One Diff Viewer. The JetBrains Rider team also presented the Entity Framework Core user interface plugin and added some new inspections within Dynamic Program Analysis. 

EAP 2 contains a change around the debugger. Data Flow Analysis (DFA) anticipates potential issues within the code and notifies users of them, all without running the code. DFA can emphasise code branches that are likely to be executed, visually suppress segments of the application that will not be run, and also provide alerts when the application execution culminates with an exception. In the example below, the debugger's dataflow analysis helps to immediately see that the method will not be executed beyond the RandomizeBool() call, as this will raise a NotImplementedException.


Example of Data Flow Analysis (Source: JetBrains blog)

Another new feature is Quick Search. It allows quick navigation in tool windows and dialogues. It is now available via a shortcut. Once the focus is on a tree or list, the search can be easily invoked from the Options menu of the tool window, by pressing ⌘ F on macOS or Ctrl+F on Windows or Linux, or by simply starting to type in a query. Alternatively, it is possible to assign the shortcuts to the quick search function in Settings / Preferences | Keymap.

In Rider 2023.3 EAP 2, the approach to checking modifications has changed. Instead of checking individual files one at a time, when viewing a set of changes, it is now possible to view all changed files in a single, scrolling frame. This improved difference viewer can be accessed through the Git Log tool window and integrates seamlessly with the GitLab and GitHub platforms.

The Entity Framework Core UI plugin is now integrated into JetBrains Rider. This allows users to access the Entity Framework Core command functions in Rider to perform tasks such as generating migrations, updating databases with selected migrations (including autocomplete migration names), creating a DbContext framework from existing databases or generating SQL scripts from a specified migration range. 

ASP.NET Core applications now benefit from new inspections through Dynamic Program Analysis. These inspections are designed to identify instances of extended execution times in various application components, such as MVC controller methods, Razor page handler methods, and View Component methods. They are intended to help pinpoint potential backend performance issues that may affect the responsiveness of an application.

The community reacted positively to the new release, especially to information about the All-In-One Diff Viewer. One user asked below the official release post if there are plans to use it for commit diffs as well. Sasha Ivanova, a marketing content writer in .NET tools at JetBrains, answered that they are considering this and currently weighing all the pros and cons.

The entire changelog of this release is available on YouTrack.
 

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