During the //dotNetConf2020 virtual event, Microsoft releases Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8. The latest version of Visual Studio 2019 adds many new features and improvements, along with support for a unified .NET framework (.NET 5.0), C# 9.0, and F# 5.0.
The latest version of Visual Studio 2019 also comes with a set of new productivity improvements for Git. Here in this post, we are going to see what's new has been added for Git.
Visual Studio 2019 now lets you add local code to Git and GitHub with just a single click. The "Create Git Repository" dialog contains a new integrated GitHub login flow where you can mark the repository public or private. This makes it safe and accessible only to you and all designated contributors. In addition to GitHub, you can now also commit your code to an existing remote repository.
Microsoft added a new top-level Git menu, which you can reach through keyboard shortcut Alt + G to access all your favorite Git features that include repository cloning, fetch, pull, commit, push, and other required commands. It also allows you to open a Git repository from a list of your local repositories.
When you open or clone a Git repository, Visual Studio 2019 will help you access your code directly. Solution Explorer will now load the root of the repository and search for files present in the directory. Visual Studio then detects and loads the solution file (.sln) automatically.
If the repository contains multiple .sln files, Solution Explorer will display a list of available files to choose from. You can then switch between the currently open solution file and the list of other solution files in the list.
The latest version of Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 now allows you to create a new branch from an Azure DevOps work item. The default source control provider is now Git instead of TFVC.
Visual Studio 2019 now lets you resolve any code commits easily with a seamless experience. In the event of a merge conflict, Visual Studio guides you through the way of resolving the conflict. A three-way merge editor will guide you through any conflict in a file. Simply put, it allows you to compare the lines and even individual differences at the word level which was not available in previous releases.
The new "Git Changes" window in Visual Studio 2019 has been designed to provide you quick access to frequently used Git operations you need while coding. You can create a new branch, perform commit, stage, stash, and amend operations from a single place without switching pages or losing the context.
The new Git experience in Visual Studio 2019 includes a rich Git repository window that makes it easy to view the full history of the repository. You can right-click on a branch to perform operations such as merge, rebase, cherry-pick, and reset.
