microsoft / microsoft/TypeScript

Mark function expressions differently from variables

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Description

Search Terms

Differentiate JS function vars from other vars, outline, breadcrumb, variable, function expression, arrow function expression

Suggestion

With the addition of outline.showVariables setting in VS Code, I would like to have this issue reconsidered.

https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/84359

image

image

Use case and example as above.

Other internal mechanisms and userland extensions could possibly benefit from this change as well.

Checklist

My suggestion meets these guidelines:

  • This wouldn't be a breaking change in existing TypeScript/JavaScript code
  • This wouldn't change the runtime behavior of existing JavaScript code
  • This could be implemented without emitting different JS based on the types of the expressions
  • This isn't a runtime feature (e.g. library functionality, non-ECMAScript syntax with JavaScript output, etc.)
  • This feature would agree with the rest of TypeScript's Design Goals.

refs

https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/84359
https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/issues/14830
https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/issues/29036

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing the linked VS Code issue 84359 and the related TypeScript issues 14830 and 29036 to understand the requested outline and breadcrumb distinction. Determine how function expressions and arrow function expressions should be represented separately from variables, while preserving existing JavaScript output and runtime behavior. Done means the desired symbols are distinguishable for the referenced editor use cases.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript, typescript
Domain
developer-experience, tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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