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Sr. Content Developer at Microsoft, working remotely in PA, TechBash conference organizer, former Microsoft MVP, Husband, Dad and Geek.
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At JetBrains, we love seeing the developer community grow and thrive. That’s why we support open-source projects that make a real difference — the ones that help developers learn, build, and create better software together. We’re proud to back open-source maintainers with free licenses and to contribute to initiatives that strengthen the ecosystem and the people behind it.
In this edition, we highlight four projects spanning Rust, Go, and JavaScript. Different as they are, each shares the same goal: keeping systems reliable.
Originally created to make it easier to share local APIs with teammates, frp (Fast Reverse Proxy) has grown into a global open-source favorite. It’s lightweight, easy to configure, and supports multiple protocols – perfect for developers who need to share local services or access remote environments without complex network setup.
As frp grew into a complex codebase, I switched to GoLand, which significantly improved my productivity. Intelligent code completion, a powerful debugger, seamless refactoring, and intuitive navigation became indispensable in my everyday workflow.
Since frp attracts contributors with different levels of experience, GoLand has become a vital tool in simplifying their workflows – with its ready-to-use, beginner-friendly environment, it drastically reduces the learning curve and the setup work that often frustrates beginners. I confidently recommend GoLand as the go-to IDE for contributing to frp or any other Go project.
— fatedier, frp creator
The team’s roadmap includes lightweight VPN-like capabilities that will allow multiple frpc nodes to form virtual networks, along with a major v2 overhaul aimed at delivering advanced functionality across both Layer 7 (application) and Layer 4 (transport) features.
Sniffnet, written entirely in Rust, lets users visualize network traffic in real time. It was designed as an intuitive, easy-to-use monitoring tool that allows anyone – not just network experts – to comfortably analyze their internet activity. Instead of unreadable packet data, Sniffnet displays clear, flow-level details such as domain names, countries, and services, giving users an immediate understanding of their network traffic.
What I love most about RustRover is how seamlessly it integrates with my usual workflows – using rustfmt, clippy, and testing tools. And since I’ve used other JetBrains IDEs in the past, RustRover instantly feels like home with its familiar, intuitive interface.
— Giuliano Bellini, Sniffnet creator
Sniffnet’s upcoming roadmap includes process identification, custom IP blacklists, remote host monitoring via an agent, and OS-level firewall integrations – all aimed at making network monitoring secure and approachable for everyone.
Vitest was designed to be a simple testing tool for Vite applications, with a focus on the shared build configuration. Over time, it’s evolved into a go-to testing framework for fast, reliable JavaScript testing across ecosystems.
Since the early days, JetBrains has collaborated with the team to provide the best IDE experience. My favorite feature is the debug button – I always struggled with JavaScript’s built-in debugger before trying it in WebStorm.
— Vladimir, Vitest maintainer
The Vitest team continues to innovate with the latest developments of the Browser Mode and upcoming improvements to benchmarking and type-checking support – all in service of making testing easy and approachable.
bottom started as a personal spin on gotop and similar tools. Originally a résumé project, it gradually evolved into a popular terminal-based system monitor built in Rust. The project was originally called “rustop”, but since that name was already taken, the creator simply took things in the opposite direction and called it “bottom”!
I regularly use RustRover for open-source projects like bottom – it’s packed with great features, and it’s convenient to stay within the JetBrains ecosystem since I use other JetBrains products at work.
— Clement Tsang, bottom creator
Bottom proves that even the simplest tools can evolve into powerful, community-driven utilities, and that approachable design matters, even on the command line.
These projects showcase a common truth: Great developer experience happens when tools get out of your way. With JetBrains IDEs enhancing everything from code navigation to collaboration, these teams turn ideas into usable, elegant tools.
Explore these projects, contribute if you can, or start your own! RustRover, WebStorm, CLion, Rider, RubyMine, DataGrip, IntelliJ IDEA, and PyCharm are free for open-source development and ready to help you code, collaborate, and contribute.
This week, we discuss how Netflix is disrupting media, IBM’s Confluent acquisition, and Anthropic buying Bun. Plus, an important discussion on fonts and typography.
Watch the YouTube Live Recording of Episode 550
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This episode of The Modern .NET Show is supported, in part, by RJJ Software's Strategic Technology Consultation Services. If you're an SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) leader wondering why your technology investments aren't delivering, or you're facing critical decisions about AI, modernization, or team productivity, let's talk.
"And the first feature we have that take advantage of this deep integration is the Profiler Agent. And this is absolutely bonkers. So you can simply go to the chat window in Visual Studio and you can ask…"— Mads Kristensen
Hey everyone, and welcome back to The Modern .NET Show; the premier .NET podcast, focusing entirely on the knowledge, tools, and frameworks that all .NET developers should have in their toolbox. I'm your host Jamie Taylor, bringing you conversations with the brightest minds in the .NET ecosystem.
Today, we're joined by Mads Kristensen to talk about all things IDEs, tooling, and the new functionality that Visual Studio 2026 (aka "Dev 18") includes and how it has the chance of greatly impacting your development practice, in a fantastic way!
"And we want to make sure that You know, we we do as many of those as we can. We want to remove those paper cuts, make you as happy as possible. And so if you look back at the last 12 months, we have of you know of all the bugs people have opened on us, we fixed almost 4500 user-reported bugs. That's 18 bugs that we fixed every single work day."— Mads Kristensen
Did you know that Mads was present for what many see as the inciting incident that lead to .NET being both open source and cross platform: when jQuery was bundled with ASP .NET Framework and Visual Studio..
We also took some time to talk about bug reports, the things that you and I can do to ensure that our bug reports are read, providing positive feedback, the Visual Studio teams' velocity, and some of the amazing new features in Visual Studio 2026 like the ... well, I'm getting ahead of myself. You'll have to listen in to the episode to find out what those features are.
It's also worth noting that I recorded this podcast with Mads back in late August 2025, which was way ahead of the public preview of Visual Studio 2026. Whilst we didn't talk about anything that was super secret, things might have changed between recording the episode and you listening in.
Before we jump in, a quick reminder: if The Modern .NET Show has become part of your learning journey, please consider supporting us through Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee. Every contribution helps us continue bringing you these in-depth conversations with industry experts. You'll find all the links in the show notes.
Anyway, without further ado, let's sit back, open up a terminal, type in `dotnet new podcast` and we'll dive into the core of Modern .NET.
The full show notes, including links to some of the things we discussed and a full transcription of this episode, can be found at: https://dotnetcore.show/season-8/unpacking-visual-studio-2026-new-features-bug-fixes-and-whats-coming-next-with-mads-kristensen/
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Music created by Mono Memory Music, licensed to RJJ Software for use in The Modern .NET Show.
Editing and post-production services for this episode were provided by MB Podcast Services.
In this podcast, Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Richard Bown about transitioning from management back to individual contributor roles, leading from any position, and creating humane engineering organizations.
By Richard Bown
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