We are thrilled to announce the return of #include cleanup, a tool that helps you maintain clean code, now available in Visual Studio 17.8 Preview 1. To start using this feature, make sure to update to the latest version of Visual Studio Preview.
#include cleanup
Visual Studio now offers #include cleanup, a feature that improves the quality of your code by generating suggestions to remove unused headers and add direct headers. Our suggested workflow is to first go through the direct include suggestions to add direct headers where indirect headers are used, followed by removing the unused includes.
Remove unused #include statements
This feature provides suggestions to remove unused headers from your files, enhancing code cleanliness. When an unused include is detected, it is visually dimmed by default. By hovering over the dimmed include, a quick action (indicated by three dots in the default view) prompt will appear, notifying you about the unused include in the file. You can click on the light bulb to remove the unused include or all unused includes. This makes it easier to clean up your code and ensures that you keep only the necessary includes to keep your code well-organized.
Add transitively used #include statements
In Visual Studio, there is an existing feature that alerts users when an include is used but not added to the file. This is indicated by a squiggle and suggests adding the required include. Currently, we have added a new feature that provides suggestions for adding direct includes when your file has indirect dependencies. Including indirect dependencies can result in longer compilation times. However, with the help of direct include suggestions, you can optimize compilation time by including only the essential direct dependencies.
In instances where the direct include for certain content is missing, a quick action (indicated by three dots in the default view) will appear. Hovering over it will inform you that content from that transitive include is being used. Then, you have the option to either add the direct include individually or add all transitively used includes. By choosing to include all transitively used includes, all the direct headers will be automatically added wherever indirect headers are used in the file. After including the direct dependencies, it is crucial to remove any unused includes, retaining only those that are necessary.
To quickly perform code cleanup, you can configure code cleanup by adding “Add transitively used and remove unused #include statements (C++)”. Once this setup is complete, you’ll have the convenience of adding all transitively used includes and removing all unused includes with just a single click on the broom icon. This streamlines the process and ensures that your code remains clean.
By default, #include cleanup is disabled, but you can enable it by navigating to Tools > Options > Text Editor > C/C++ > IntelliSense and selecting “Enable #include cleanup.” Once enabled, you have the flexibility to adjust the settings and configure different levels to meet your specific needs and preferences.
