YAML & Code View

You may have already noticed the icon and color scheme of our site has changed to a fun 8-bit layout. The reason was to tease out another core component of a developer’s toolbox: YAML.

Recently, Microsoft unveiled some changes to its Power Fx development stack with its introduction of Code View. Among other notable enhancements were extensions for Visual Studio Code and the ability to copy code for use with other Power Apps components.

“Having the source code available will also allow new experiences.
Developers can now copy any control in a code format. You can copy
any visual control within Studio as a YAML Code.” (Marcel Ferreira, MSFT)

YAML brings the underlying Power Fx language into a clean readable format that enables developers to format and execute code more efficiently. This seems to be the logical progression for Microsoft’s low-code platform, along with Copilot Studio, which we’ll cover in a follow-up article.

It’s important to note that YAML is not a new technology. In fact, markup languages have been in use for some time often to create configuration files which naturally works well with programming languages [1]. YAML is also designed for ease of use and client interactions, making it a popular tool among developers [2]. Ultimately, these features enable greater extensibility across diverse coding languages.

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