GitKraken, creator of the world’s leading Git GUI and CLI, announced the acquisition of GitLens, the most popular Git extension for Visual Studio Code. GitLens was created by Eric Amodio in 2016, and has since been developed and maintained nearly exclusively by Amodio in his spare time. He joins GitKraken and will serve as the company’s Chief Technology Officer, to lead GitLens and GitKraken’s entire suite of popular Git collaboration and productivity tools.
GitLens is a free open-source Git extension for VS Code with more than 11 million active users and 71 million downloads in the past five years. Of more than 30,000 VS Code extensions, it is one of the most popular. It is relied upon by developers, DevOps professionals and enterprise teams around the world, to help them better understand and work with code. GitLens unlocks the untapped knowledge within each repository to help visualize code authorship, seamlessly navigate and explore Git repositories, and gain valuable insights via powerful comparison commands.
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“I’ve always been passionate about making software development easier, more accessible, and inclusive. My mission with GitLens has been to make code easier to understand by leveraging the knowledge within each Git repository and making it accessible to everyone,” said GitLens founder, Eric Amodio. “I am incredibly excited to join the GitKraken team to take our shared vision and accelerate it to create something truly wonderful together”.
Amodio is an innovator, leader, architect, and seasoned full-stack developer. He is joining the GitKraken team to lead the continued development of GitLens for VS Code users, transitioning his GitLens involvement from a passion project on nights and weekends, to a full-time focus. By joining GitKraken, GitLens will have the full support and resources of a rapidly growing software company that specializes in Git collaboration and productivity solutions for development teams.
“GitKraken is on a mission to make Git easier, safer, and more powerful for developers and DevOps teams of all sizes,” GitKraken CEO, Wayne Williams said. “The addition of Eric to the leadership team, and GitLens to the product line, could not be a better fit. His knowledge, vision, and leadership will help us advance the Git user experience across developer and DevOps surfaces.” GitKraken’s acquisition last month of Git Integration for Jira, increased its capabilities, reach and user base. With the GitLens acquisition, GitKraken’s user base is now well over 10 million developers and technology leaders from more than 100,000 companies around the world.
GitKraken is committed to developing GitLens for the Visual Studio Code platform. GitLens users can rest assured it will remain available for free and open source, and will continue to be invested in. GitLens users can find more information in this announcement article. Developers and DevOps professionals can download the free GitKraken Git client and the free GitLens Git extension in the VS Code Marketplace.
