.NET Tools Releases Rider

Rider 2024.2: Full Line Code Completion, Reader Mode, Major Enhancements to Debugging, and More.

Hello everyone,

We’re happy to announce the release of Rider 2024.2, which comes packed with a range of exciting features and improvements designed to elevate your .NET and game development experience. From enhanced language support to advanced AI capabilities, this update has something for everyone. 

Now, let’s dive into the details! 

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👀 Would you rather watch than read?

Then check out the recording of the 2024.2 Release Party where our developer advocates demoed all of the latest updates.

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Key features and enhancements

Full line code completion

We’ve introduced full line code completion for C#, C++, JavaScript, TypeScript, and CSS. With this new feature, Rider makes single-line suggestions that complete your statements based on the context of the current file. These suggestions are powered by locally running language models, keeping your code private and secure.

You can learn more about this feature from this blog post. 

Reader mode

Our new reader mode is designed to make reading libraries and read-only files a breeze. This mode offers inline rendering of documentation comments for C#, C++, and F#, along with virtual indenting for C#. Say goodbye to confusing tags and formatting!

Tasks tab and task dependency graph

In the Debug tool window, you’ll find a new Tasks tab that provides insights into the System.Threading.Tasks.Task and ValueTask objects. You can view tasks in a table or a newly introduced graph format, making it easy to monitor asynchronous operations and identify potential deadlocks. Check out this blog post to explore the most common scenarios where the Tasks view can help you uncover some optimization opportunities.

Enhanced navigation to class members

Navigating to specific class members has never been easier with Rider. The improved Navigation bar now extends from the project root to the symbol under your caret, with a popup menu for quick access to any method within a class. This feature is available for C#, C++, VB, and F#.

The .NET Aspire plugin bundled

As of this release, the .NET Aspire plugin is now bundled with Rider. The plugin comes with a corresponding project template that you can select when setting up a new solution.

Check out this blog post to learn more.

Game development updates

This release brings quite a few major improvements for game developers:

• Starting with Rider 2024.2, the Godot Support plugin is now bundled. This update also introduces GDScript support for syntax highlighting, code completion, Find Usages, and debugging.
• The Monitoring tool window now supports C++ applications, Unity, and Unreal Engine projects.
• Rider 2024.2 also features an improved debugging experience for Unreal Engine, with better evaluation for smart pointers and strings, a new Modules tab, and enhanced error messages.

Scroll down to the Game development section of this blog post to learn more. 

.NET 9 Preview SDK support

Rider 2024.2 supports the .NET 9 Preview SDK, including project templates, the ability to create and debug projects targeting the new SDK, and initial support for C# 13 features.

User experience enhancements

New UI as default 

The New UI initially introduced in version 2022.3 is now the default for all users, offering a modern and streamlined experience. For more information on the finalized switch, check out this blog post.

Prefer the classic look? No worries! A plugin is available to switch back.

Project template parameters

You can now enjoy more flexibility when setting up a new solution with support for multiple-choice parameters for project templates. This enhancement will be particularly useful for cross-platform solutions.

Improved Usages of… popup

Find usages of classes, methods, or variables more easily with the new streamlined Usages of… popup, featuring multiple filtering options.

Editor improvements

Inline rendering of documentation

Documentation comments in C#, C++, and F# are now rendered inline with links and code blocks for a clearer reading experience.

Semantic highlighting

Optional semantic highlighting helps distinguish between parameters and local variables in C# and C++.

Math syntax in Markdown

Mathematical expressions in Markdown files are now natively rendered, supporting both inline math and code blocks.

Language support

C# enhancements

Rider 2024.2 deepens its support for C# 12 while introducing initial support for some C# 13 features. Highlights include:

• Enhanced equality analysis for struct types.
• An Extract common code inspection for reduced duplication.
• Culture previews in ToString() format specifier code completion.
• The ref struct interface implementation.
• Support for the new \e escape sequence.

You may want to check out this series of blog posts we’ve prepared to give you the most in-depth information about the latest changes in C# support.

F# enhancements

F# developers will enjoy the following improvements:

• Debugging support for F# scripts.
• An improved F# Interactive tool window.
• Extension members import via code completion.
• Intelligent name suggestions in patterns.

Click here for more information.

Game development

Unreal Engine

This release brings some huge improvements to the native debugger – with lots of improvements to evaluation, especially for smart pointers and equal comparisons for strings, data breakpoints, and while working with optimized code. To fully appreciate the scope of the improvements, we recommend that you check out this dedicated blog post.

The recently introduced Monitoring tool window will now show the CPU and memory usage of your C++ projects, including Unreal ones. Additionally, there are some new inspections for Unreal, to make sure Super is called in overriding methods and to ensure Unreal’s color types work properly.

Click here for more details.

Godot

The Godot Support plugin is now bundled, meaning Rider is your ultimate game development IDE! All the existing C# features, such as run/debug configurations, completion for InputActions and NodePath literal strings will work out of the box, but that’s not all…

Rider 2024.2 introduces support for GDScript, with syntax highlighting, code completion, Find Usages, and more! And AI Assistant now understands that you’re in a Godot project, so it will provide even more relevant answers.

Click here for more details.

Unity

Rider 2024.2 adds support for the Unity editor to the recently introduced Monitoring tool window, so you will automatically see CPU and memory usage when you attach the debugger to the Unity editor. We’ve also made some nice updates to shader support, with shader variant keywords now working with compute shaders and the pass name shown in the shader context switcher.

Click here for more details.

For more information on game development in Rider, check out the recording of this recent livestream on how Rider’s AI Assistant can help with understanding a codebase, dealing with boilerplate, and learning APIs and frameworks.

AI Assistant enhancements

Speaking of leveraging the power of AI in your development. The latest update to AI Assistant inside Rider 2024.2 introduces:

• Enhanced code completion and in-editor code generation.
• AI-assisted VCS conflict resolution.
• AI integration in the terminal for command generation.
• A custom prompts library.

The AI chat is now powered by GPT-4o and file references for better context understanding.

Version control improvements

Updated Local History dialog

Rider’s Local History dialog has received a refreshed UI and a Diff view for easier change tracking.

Enhanced Log tool window

There is now a dedicated settings page and the option to open the Git log as a tab for easier navigation.

Web development

• Rider 2024.2 allows you to directly execute and debug TypeScript files with improved framework support for Next.js, Nuxt, and more.
• The latest update offers enhanced path resolution for major JavaScript frameworks.

For more information on enhancements to the web development experience, please see this page.

Working with databases 

Here are just a few of the improvements introduced with this release:

• Scripted loaders: Import data from files in the Excel, JSON, Parquet, and shapefile formats via custom scripted loaders.
• Related rows in a floating toolbar: Access related rows using the table cell’s floating toolbar.
• Geographical data viewer: Explore geographical data in CSV, XLSX, and other formats.

Click here to learn more. 

Remote development

Code With Me (CWM)

In this iteration, we’ve made improvements to various aspects of the typing experience when using CWM. Enhancements include better code completion, more seamless code editing, improved syntax highlighting, refined live templates, and a more robust Undo functionality. You can find a more technical status update here.

Please take the time to try CWM and tell us about your experience.

Plugins and bundled tools

Performance and memory profiling

• The bundled performance profiler dotTrace has received several performance improvements, including faster processing of Timeline snapshots and data on the Call Tree and Hotspots views.
• The built-in memory profiler dotMemory has been enhanced with new capabilities to automatically analyze memory snapshots and compare them across different workspaces. The Instances view in dotMemory now includes enhanced filtering options to make finding specific instances easier. And last but not least, the Call Tree can now be visualized as a Sunburst chart. 

Click here to learn more.

.NET Watch Run Configuration plugin is now bundled

Starting from Rider 2024.2, the .NET Watch Run Configuration plugin comes pre-packaged with Rider. For a deep dive into the plugin’s functionality, check out this separate blog post.

Decompiler

Rider 2024.2 can help you decompile lambdas with optional parameters and better handle external sources with improved PDB support for source navigation.

Miscellaneous updates

• JBR 21 Runtime: Transition to JetBrains Runtime 21 for enhanced performance and security.
• Localization plugins: Chinese, Korean, and Japanese localization packages are now bundled.

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As always, you can find the complete list of improvements on the What’s New in Rider 2024.2 page on our website.

You may also be interested in checking out the blog posts about the latest updates to ReSharper and the .NET Tools. 

We can’t wait for you to try out all these new features and improvements in Rider 2024.2. As always, your feedback is invaluable to us. Please share your thoughts in the comments or through our feedback channels. Happy coding!