Ask HN: How does a minimap help you with programming?

2 pointstkainrad2 comments

Until recently, I used IDEs that did not have a minimap by default.

Now, I do more and more work with VSCode and I am not sure whether I like the minimap or not. Does it help you with software development tasks? If so, how?

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It's a gimmick. First thing I do when installing Sublime Text or VS Code is turning it off.

I mainly use it as the vertical scrollbar when coding. However, I do find it useful if I'm going through log files or files that have blocks of "shapes" formed by the text. It makes it easier to scroll down to the relevant section.

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