Microsoft presents us, by the hand of Etienne Baudoux, DevToys, a small suite of open source utilities focused on facilitating the day-to-day life of software developers. Its creator defines it as a “Swiss army knife for developers”, and, for a few months, we have been able to enjoy its first stable version, yes, only for Windows 10 and 11.

  • Tools included in DevToys
  • Putting DevToys to the Test
  • JSON to YAML converter
  • Number base converter
  • Compresor de PNG/JPEG e Image Converter
  • JWT decoder
  • Devoy Features
  • Conclusions

Tools included in DevToys

There are 14 tools included in this suite, grouped into the following categories:

  • converters
  • decoders
  • Formatters
  • Generators
  • Texts
  • Graphics

Navigating through its tree of utilities, we will find options to convert values ​​between different numbering systems, find differences between texts, generate hashes or test regular expressions.

Intelligent detection or “Smart Detection” is one of the most outstanding aspects of the application. It can automatically detect and propose which is the best tool to use when you are copying something through the Windows clipboard. On the other hand, if the behavior of this automated functionality does not fit what we want, we can always customize it from the software configuration.

Putting DevToys to the Test

First of all, what we should do is install the tool, either from the Microsoft Store or from its GitHub repository. Free:

Something curious that the application offers us is the close overlay, which allows us to force the application always to remain visible, as well as reduced, by pressing the following button:

JSON to YAML Converter

Another relevant element that DevToys offers us is its initialization from PowerShell with a command line. For example, if we want to use the tool to convert JSON to YAML, we would enter the following: start destroys:?tool=jsonyaml. The application would open directly with the indicated functionality:

Taking advantage of the fact that we have this tool open, we will check how it works. We find that we can configure the conversion to go from JSON to YAML or vice versa. Also, the indentation is configurable. It is enough to have an example JSON copied to the clipboard so that the icon of a light bulb automatically appears in the most appropriate tool. Since we have reproduced a JSON, it would appear in the device we are testing and in the “Formatters” category. Next, we click on the “paste” button to make our transformation. The result we get in YAML format is simply fast and efficient:

Number Base Converter

Moreover, If we want to transform from a decimal number to hexadecimal, octal or binary, we will follow a process similar to the previous one. We select the “Numeric Base” tool from the “Converters” category and enter a decimal number. In our case, 124.67 (if we wanted to transform hexadecimal to another type, we should enter it in the corresponding section):

Compressor de PNG/JPEG e Image Converter

We can find something curious in the “Graphics” category, where we will highlight two tools: PNG/JPEG Compressor and Image Converter. Why do we highlight these two tools? Because compressing an image or changing its format is a task for developers and that any average Windows user or another type of professional profile could use ideally. Simply by dragging, pasting or searching our files for the image that we want to convert or compress and clicking on the “Save” button, we can will achieve the desired result. This functionality could be improved in the future by adding compression or conversion options. For other types of files, such as PDF or SVG:

JWT Decoder

We will do a prevalent task among software developers to finish the test: decode a JSON Web Token. First, we’ll generate the token (something DevToys doesn’t provide us with and should add since it has a decoder). As we have been repeating in previous processes, it is enough to copy and paste the generated JWT so that it gives us the information of its header and content (separately). In our case, we have developed a token with the information “name”, “surname”, and “date” in its content and “type” and “algorithm” for its header:

DevToy Features

The full list of features includes:

  • Converters:
    • Jason <> Yaml.
    • Timestamp
    • Numerical basis.
  • Encoders / Decoders:
    • HTML
    • URL
    • Base 64.
    • JWT decoder.
    • GZip
  • Formatters:
    • JSON
    • SQL
    • XML
  • Generators:
    • Hash (MD5, SHA1, SHA256, SHA512).
    • UUID 1 y 4.
    • Lorem Ipsum.
    • Checksum (MD5, SHA1, SHA256, SHA384, SHA512).
  • Text:
    • Escape/Unescape.
    • Inspector and Text Converter.
    • Text Comparator.
    • Regex evaluator (regular expressions).
    • Markdown viewer.
  • Graphics:
    • Compresor de PNG/JPEG.
    • Colourblindness Simulator.
    • Image Converter.

Conclusions

Above all, As we have seen, DevToys is not only a tool that serves to streamline the primary tasks of a software developer, but it can also facilitate the tasks of an average Windows user or another professional profile thanks to tools such as the PNG and JPEG compressor or the image converter. However  Do not vacillate to add it to your list of applications if you use or work with Windows; it could make things relatively easy for you without going to Google to search for these tools one by one.