I Got Tired of XML Doc Comments, So I Built My Own Visual Studio Extension

#dotnet #productivity #opensource #csharp

The Problem

If you've written any serious C# code, you know the pain. Your /// doc comments
are packed with useful information — but reading them in the editor looks like this:

/// <summary>
/// Calculates the total price including <paramref name="taxRate"/> for a given
/// <see cref="Order"/>. Returns <c>0</c> if the order has no items.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="order">The order to calculate.</param>
/// <param name="taxRate">The tax rate as a decimal, e.g. <c>0.2</c> for 20%.</param>
/// <returns>The total price as a <see cref="decimal"/>.</returns>
/// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">Thrown when <paramref name="order"/> is null.</exception>

Raw XML noise everywhere. Every single method.

I tried PrettyDocComments. The concept was right but the aesthetics drove me
crazy — it looked out of place in a modern IDE. So I built Render Doc Comments.

What It Does

Render Doc Comments transforms those cluttered /// tags into clean, formatted
documentation blocks — rendered inline in your editor, not in a separate window
or hover popup.

Before: Raw XML tags cluttering your view

After: Clean, readable documentation with proper formatting, styled parameters,
and clickable cref links

The Interaction Model

Caret-Based Mode (Default — Free)

Click into a comment and it reverts to raw XML for editing. Move your cursor away
and the polished render returns. Zero friction.

Margin Glyph Mode (Premium)

A glyph in the editor margin lets you toggle between raw and rendered manually,
regardless of cursor position.

Language Support

C# — /// XML doc comments
F# — /// XML doc comments
C++ — Doxygen-style /// comments
VB.NET — ''' XML doc comments

Free vs Premium

Feature	Free Edition	Premium License
Multi-Language Support (C#, F#, C++, VB.NET)	✅	✅
High-Fidelity Rendering	✅	✅
Interactive `cref` Links	✅	✅
Caret-Based Auto-Hide	✅ (Always On)	🔘 Selectable
Margin Glyph Toggle	❌	🔘 Selectable
Theme Synchronization	Manual (Reopen)	Instant Auto-Sync
Typography	Segoe UI (Fixed)	Fully Custom
Accent Bars	Left Side Only	Multi-side Layout
Color Profiles	Default	Full Customization

The core rendering engine is free and open source (GNU GPL v3). Premium features
fund continued development.

Why I Built This

Documentation should aid readability — not add to the noise. Every other part of
the modern IDE has been polished. Doc comments were stuck in 2005. This is my
attempt to fix that.