GitHub has announced a new version of its desktop client, with a bunch of features that developers all over the world will love.
The service, acquired by Microsoft for $7.5 billion back in 2018, has been a cornerstone for anyone who wants to develop, well, pretty much anything, thanks to a plethora of extremely useful tools.
While some developers might not like the new algorithmic feed, version 3.0 promises a lot of upgrades and feature improvements on desktop.
GitHub update
The main update, according to GitHub, is how the service handles pull requests, a core part of any developer's workflow.
"With GitHub Desktop 3.0, you can now see the checks of your pull requests to ensure your code is ready for production," the company explained. "Just click on the badge with the pull request number, and start diving into the checks, jobs, and steps to better understand and fix whatever problem you might run into."
It's part of a broader move by GitHub towards using machine learning and AI to help developers spend more time coding and less time fixing bugs and cybersecurity issues – at least ones that can be automated away.
Developers can utilize various updates for pull requests, including high-signal notifications (which should hopefully reduce some of the noise), a notification for failed pull request checks and pull request reviews.
Some were worried when Microsoft acquired GitHub that one of the last bastions of the free, open source web would be subsumed into its machine. But over time, Microsoft has proven itself to be a worthy custodian of an important and vital tool, as the latest 3.0 update to GitHub Desktop shows.
The company says a "small team" is dedicated to maintaining and developing the desktop app, which has more than 32,000 commits and 4,600 pull requests. The GitHub Desktop repository has been forked over 7,700 times to boot.
