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Precise code navigation for JavaScript and TypeScript #371
Description
Activity
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on Jan 12, 2022 - changed the title
[-]Precise code navigation for JavaScript, TypeScript, and Java[/-][+]Precise code navigation for JavaScript and TypeScript[/+]on Mar 15, 2022 - moved this from Q1 2022 – Jan-Mar to Q2 2022 – Apr-Jun in GitHub Public Roadmap
on Apr 13, 2022 - moved this from Q2 2022 – Apr-Jun to Q3 2022 – Jul-Sep in GitHub Public Roadmap
on Jun 15, 2022 - moved this from Q3 2022 – Jul-Sep to Q4 2022 – Oct-Dec in GitHub Public Roadmap
on Aug 17, 2022 This issue is being closed as outdated. For more information, please check out this Discussion post. Stay tuned for new additions to our refreshed public roadmap!
We wanted to provide more details on why we removed this from the roadmap. We are currently prioritizing other features on our roadmap at this time, and are removing this from the roadmap until we are able to prioritize this again.
If you’re interested in this feature, please share your feedback in the GitHub community so we can track interest and consider it in the future.
Summary
Precise code navigation – a convenience already available for Python – is coming for JavaScript and TypeScript. When a developer views code on GitHub and clicks on a type name, method, function, or class instance, GitHub will allow navigation to the specific definition of that item. For example, if code calls a method named
constant()and multiple classes have a method with that name, precise code navigation will automatically identify and navigate to the correct one that is referenced, as shown here:This is different than today's search-based navigation, where for these languages a developer might need to choose from multiple definitions with the same name, as shown here:
Intended Outcome
Even when code contains multiple definitions with similar names, GitHub will support navigating to the specific definition that the code references. The code navigation engine knows the precise definition by indexing the code using stack graphs.
How will it work?
There will be no visual change to how code navigation works today except that for JavaScript and TypeScript, developers will not be prompted to choose between multiple, similarly named definitions. Code navigation will know precisely which definition is referenced.