ByteWise VS Code Extension

ByteWise is a VS Code extension designed to help C/C++ developers understand and optimize the memory layout of their structs. It provides insights into struct sizing, padding, and potential memory savings through reordering.

Features

• Struct Analysis: Analyze struct definitions in your C/C++ code to visualize their memory layout, including individual field sizes, padding, and total struct size.
• Selection Analysis: Analyze only a selected portion of your code for struct definitions.
• File Analysis: Analyze all structs within the active file and get a summary of total bytes, padding, and potential savings.
• Inline Hints (Hover): Hover over struct members to see their size and alignment information directly in the editor.
• Optimization Diagnostics: Get real-time VS Code diagnostics (warnings/information) highlighting structs that can be optimized for memory savings due to padding.
• Interactive Web View: A dedicated web view panel displays a detailed, interactive breakdown of your structs' memory layout.
• Settings Integration: Customize ByteWise behavior through VS Code settings, including toggling inline hints and optimization diagnostics.

Getting Started

Installation

1. Open VS Code.
2. Go to the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X).
3. Search for "ByteWise".
4. Click Install.

Usage

Once installed and activated, ByteWise automatically provides features when working with C/C++ files.

Analyzing Structs

You can analyze structs in several ways:

• Analyze Active File:

  1. Open a C/C++ file containing struct definitions.
  2. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P).
  3. Type "ByteWise: Analyze File" and select the command.
  4. An interactive web view will appear with the analysis, and a summary message will be shown.

• Analyze Selection:

  1. Select a struct definition or multiple struct definitions in your C/C++ file.
  2. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P).
  3. Type "ByteWise: Analyze Selection" and select the command.
  4. An interactive web view will appear with the analysis of the selected structs.

• Context Menu (Right-Click):

  1. Right-click anywhere in a C/C++ file.
  2. Look for "ByteWise" options in the context menu to analyze the file or selected text.

Inline Hints

• Simply hover your mouse over a member variable within a struct definition in your C/C++ file. A hover tooltip will appear showing its size and alignment.

Optimization Diagnostics

• ByteWise will automatically display information diagnostics (light blue squiggly underlines) under struct definitions that have potential memory savings due to padding. Hover over these diagnostics to see the estimated savings.

Configuration

You can customize ByteWise's behavior through VS Code settings:

1. Go to File > Preferences > Settings (Code > Preferences > Settings on macOS).
2. Search for "ByteWise".

Available settings:

• bytewise.showInlineHints: Enable or disable inline hover hints for struct members (default: true).
• bytewise.showOptimizations: Enable or disable diagnostic messages for struct optimization opportunities (default: true).

Contributing

(If this were a real project, you'd add information here about how to contribute, file issues, etc.)

License

(If this were a real project, you'd add license information here, e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0, etc.)