Embrace the Future with JetBrains Rider for MacOS — The Ultimate Development IDE

M.F.M Fazrin
5 min readSep 9, 2023

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In the ever-evolving world of software development, choosing the right Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is crucial for productivity, efficiency, and overall satisfaction with your work. For MacOS users, the decision recently became clearer than ever, with the retirement announcement of Visual Studio for MacOS. If you’re in search of a powerful, versatile, and feature-rich alternative, look no further than JetBrains Rider.

Why Rider?

The Retirement of Visual Studio for MacOS

Microsoft’s decision to retire Visual Studio for MacOS was a significant turning point for many developers. With Visual Studio’s retirement, developers were left searching for an IDE that could offer a similar level of functionality, flexibility, and convenience. Enter JetBrains Rider.

JetBrains Rider has been making waves in the development community, and for good reason. This cross-platform IDE is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of developers, including those working with .NET, C#, and various web technologies. Let’s dive into why JetBrains Rider is the perfect alternative for MacOS users.

  1. Cross-Platform Compatibility

One of the standout features of JetBrains Rider is its cross-platform compatibility. Whether you’re on MacOS, Windows, or Linux, Rider ensures a consistent development experience across all major operating systems. This means you can seamlessly switch between different platforms without compromising on productivity.

2. .NET and C# Excellence

For those involved in .NET development or working with C#, JetBrains Rider is a game-changer. It provides comprehensive support for .NET Core, .NET Framework, and Mono, making it a versatile choice for a wide range of projects. Rider’s intelligent code analysis, debugging, and refactoring tools are second to none, ensuring your code is of the highest quality.

3. Rich Plugin Ecosystem

JetBrains Rider supports an extensive ecosystem of plugins and extensions, allowing you to customize your development environment to suit your specific needs. Whether you need support for a particular technology, version control system, or code style, there’s likely a plugin available to enhance your workflow.

4. Web Development Capabilities

In addition to its .NET prowess, Rider excels in web development. It offers first-class support for JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, and popular web frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.js. With integrated tools for front-end development, you can build modern web applications with ease.

5. Smart Code Assistance

JetBrains Rider’s intelligent code assistance is designed to boost your productivity. Features like code completion, on-the-fly code analysis, and quick-fix suggestions help you write clean, error-free code faster. This IDE understands your code and offers suggestions to improve it, ultimately saving you time and reducing frustration.

6. Version Control Integration

Effective version control is crucial in modern software development, and Rider makes it seamless. It integrates seamlessly with popular version control systems like Git, Mercurial, and Subversion, allowing you to track changes, collaborate with your team, and manage your codebase efficiently.

7. Cherry on the cake — ReSharper

Code Analysis and Refactoring Magic

One of ReSharper’s standout features is its unparalleled code analysis capabilities. As you type, it continuously analyses your code and provides instant feedback, highlighting potential errors, code smells, and inefficiencies. This real-time guidance ensures that your codebase remains clean and maintainable, reducing the chances of bugs and enhancing code quality.

Moreover, ReSharper simplifies complex code refactoring tasks. With a single click, you can safely rename variables, extract methods, introduce variables, and apply other refactoring's. This helps you maintain consistency, readability, and adherence to coding standards across your projects, saving you time and effort.

Code Navigation Made Effortless

Navigating large codebases can be a daunting task, but ReSharper makes it a breeze. Its smart navigation features allow you to jump to any class, method, or file in an instant. You can also quickly find and explore usages of a symbol, making it easier to understand how different parts of your code interact.

ReSharper’s Contextual Navigation takes code exploration to the next level by providing instant access to related code elements. This feature enhances your understanding of the code structure and accelerates your development workflow.

Code Templates and Code Generation

Writing repetitive code is a common pain point for developers. ReSharper comes to the rescue with its code templates and code generation capabilities. It offers a vast library of templates for common code patterns, allowing you to generate boilerplate code with minimal effort. This not only speeds up development but also reduces the chances of introducing errors through manual coding.

Additionally, ReSharper’s code generation features help you create constructors, properties, methods, and other code elements quickly and accurately. This makes it easy to maintain a consistent coding style across your projects and saves you from the tedium of writing routine code.

Unit Testing Support

Unit testing is a crucial aspect of software development, and ReSharper integrates seamlessly with popular testing frameworks like NUnit and xUnit. It helps you write, run, and debug unit tests effortlessly, ensuring that your code functions as expected. ReSharper also provides visual cues and quick fixes to address issues in your tests, making test-driven development a smoother process.

Extensive Language Support

ReSharper doesn’t limit itself to a single programming language or technology stack. It offers comprehensive support for a wide range of languages, including C#, VB.NET, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, and more. Whether you’re working on a web application, desktop software, or mobile app, ReSharper adapts to your development needs.

ReSharper by JetBrains is not just an ordinary coding assistant; it’s a game-changer that empowers developers to write better code faster. Its code analysis, refactoring, code navigation, code generation, and unit testing capabilities collectively enhance your productivity and code quality.

With ReSharper by your side, you’ll write cleaner, more maintainable code, catch potential issues early, and navigate complex codebases with ease. So, whether you’re a solo developer or part of a large team, consider adding ReSharper to your toolkit to supercharge your coding journey. Elevate your coding experience and unlock your full development potential with ReSharper.

With the retirement of Visual Studio for MacOS, JetBrains Rider emerges as the top choice for developers looking for a powerful, cross-platform IDE. Its compatibility, .NET and C# support, rich plugin ecosystem, web development capabilities, smart code assistance, and version control integration make it the ultimate solution for MacOS users.

Don’t settle for a discontinued IDE when you can embrace the future of development with JetBrains Rider. Try it today and experience a more productive, enjoyable, and efficient development journey. Say goodbye to the past and welcome the future with JetBrains Rider for MacOS.

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M.F.M Fazrin

Senior Software Development Specialist @ Primary Health Care Corporation (Qatar)