What add-in/setting in Visual Studio can you not live without?

[+72] [61] sontek

[2008-09-19 23:18:21]

[ .net visual-studio polls ]

[ http://stackoverflow.com/questions/106340/what-is-your-favorite-visual-studio-add-in-setting ]



What add-in/setting in Visual Studio can you not live without? Which one improves your productivity or fixes something you can't stand in Visual Studio? Why is it your favorite?


My favorite is aspx edit helper [1] because it does really improve my productivity when working with ASP.NET applications. What it does is provide a quick way to type out server side controls, it automatically fills in runat="server" and id="" and puts your cursor in between the quotes of ID so you can type it in.


Here is a summarized list of all the plugins discussed so far



  1. ASPX Edit Helper [2] - Snippets for editing asp.net

  2. Re-Sharper [3] - Fast Refactoring

  3. Power Commands [4]

  4. Reflector [5]

  5. GhostDoc [6] - Generates XML comments

  6. Visual Assist X [7]

  7. Rock Scroll [8]

  8. TestDriven.NET [9]

  9. NCover [10]

  10. AnkhSVN [11] - SVN Integration

  11. ViEmu [12] - Vim Emulation

  12. VisualSVN [13] - SVN Integration

  13. Theme Generator [14]

  14. Skype Add-in [15]

  15. XML Explorer [16]

  16. Resource Refactoring [17]

  17. Linq2Sql Debugger Visualizer [18] - Easily debug Linq2SQL

  18. Visual Studio File Explorer [19]

  19. Visual Studio Window Manager [20]

  20. TFS PowerToys [21]

  21. Expression Tree Visualizer [22]

  22. StyleCop [23]

  23. Regions Manager [24]

  24. Regionerate [25]

  25. Code Keep [26] - Manage Code Snippets from anywhere

  26. CR Documentor [27]

  27. DXCore Community Plugins [28]

  28. NUnit [29]

  29. CodeRush Xpress [30]

  30. JSLint [31]

  31. NUnit for VS [32] - NUnit integration

  32. Instant Gratification [33] - Tells you how awesome your code is

  33. Entrian Source Search [34], a Code Search add-in. "Find In Files" on steroids.

  34. Goanna [35] - static analysis for C/C++

  35. StudioTools [36]

  36. USysWare DPack Code Browser [37] - Fast code navigation





possible duplicate of What is your favorite visual studio plugin? - raven



[+53] [2008-09-19 23:19:19] RKitson


ReSharper! [1] - It blows away the refactoring utils that are built-in to VS, and the default hotkeys as well. Once you get used to it, you'll never want to work on a VS installation that doesn't have it!


And if you use Subversion, VisualSVN [2] is awesome!


[1] http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/index.html

[2] http://visualsvn.com/






(1) "you'll never want to work on a VS installation that doesn't have it" => that's precisely why I'm reluctant to try it... I'm not sure my company will be willing to pay for it ;) - Thomas Levesque

There's a 30-day free trial. Get it and give it an honest chance. You'll find it's worth buying for yourself if your company won't pay for it. Seriously, it WILL change your life. Also, about a year ago I joined a Java shop. Installed Eclipse and IDEA (the Java IDE made by the company that does Resharper) and both have all the same functionality, and have for a LONG TIME. The functionality that R# provides is nothing new to the Java community, and it's kind of embarrassing how far behind VS2008 is in this department. If you don't like it you can uninstall it. - RKitson

While I personally don't like ReSharper (I prefer CodeRush/Refactor Pro) I'd agree with RKitson's comment - the productivity increases I saw from CR/R! were enough to make me shell out the cash for a licence out of my own pocket for use at work. - ZombieSheep


1

[+24] [2008-09-19 23:19:23] Brian R. Bondy


Visual Assist X [1] for C++, and .Net languages


See this page for a rundown of all the features [2].


[1] http://www.wholetomato.com/

[2] http://www.wholetomato.com/products/default.asp





2

[+19] [2008-09-19 23:24:50] Chris


rockscroll [1] provides a preview of the entire document right next to the scroll bar:



I also like TestDriven.NET [2] because it integrates NUnit [3] for unit testing, NCover [4] for code coverage, and Reflector [5] for disassembling the .NET framework.


[1] http://www.hanselman.com/blog/IntroducingRockScroll.aspx

[2] http://testdriven.net

[3] http://nunit.org

[4] http://www.ncover.com/

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Reflector






(1) I dunno, rockscroll... thought about smaller classes? I 'spose something that length is inevitable for a complex view with lots of widget event handlers but... you need to scroll through huge files a lot, really? - Hamish Smith

Hamish: uh, ever work with someone else's code? - Chris

I tried rockscroll once, but the excitement faded quickly. It looks cool, but it didn't really help anything. - Nippysaurus

(1) @Nippysaurus, I couldn't do without it. Being able to double click an identifier and instantly see where (or if) it is used in the rest of the file is a real time saver for me. -Benjol

I find MetalScroll far better. - Span

The latest version of the Productivity Power Tools (visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/…) from Microsoft has the "Enhanced Scrollbar" feature which is a more customizable version of RockScroll - David McClelland

I agree with Span. Go for MetalScroll over RockScroll. I wouldn't be without it. code.google.com/p/metalscroll - Phil Hale


3

[+17] [2008-09-19 23:29:19] Chris Charabaruk


AnkhSVN [1], actually. Especially now that it's an actual SCC plugin.


[1] http://ankhsvn.open.collab.net/





4

[+15] [2008-09-19 23:30:33] Grank



  • ReSharper [1] is totally amazing. It does everything and it does it well! It's almost impossible to WRITE extremely stupid code, as it warns you about a truly stunning amount of things.

  • PowerCommands for Visual Studio [2] are handy to have around. "Open Containing Folder" and "Collapse Projects" are two features I use constantly.

  • Reflector [3] is an everyday miracle of life.

  • GhostDoc [4] is nice and convenient too as about 50% of the time it makes XML comments automatically that are almost exactly what need to be said and require only minor tweaking


[1] http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/index.html

[2] http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/PowerCommands

[3] http://www.red-gate.com/products/reflector/

[4] http://www.roland-weigelt.de/ghostdoc/






(2) Ghosts the doc sucks. All it does is undocumentation. - Quibblesome

Well when it works really well, it's a compelling argument for clearly written code and naming convention over extra commenting. but a lot of people are in the situation where both are required. Plus even if you delete the whole comment and start again, it's written the block for you. - Grank

(2) The moment I saw "Equalses the obj", I uninstalled GhostDoc and never looked back. - Kyralessa


5

[+11] [2008-09-20 00:02:57] Naveen


It is vi emulator ViEmu [1]. If you are used to using vim then this is one for VS.NET.


Increases the productivity a lot and i am keyboard freak who hates using mouse.


I have been using it for an year now and it is really stable.


[1] http://www.viemu.com/





6

[+11] [2008-09-24 02:23:02] sontek


CR Documentor [1] allows you to preview your XML documentation without having to export them with something like sandcastle.


screenshot of cr documentor


[1] http://code.google.com/p/cr-documentor/





7

[+10] [2008-09-20 20:32:54] adriaanp


CodeRush & Refactor Pro [1]


[1] http://www.devexpress.com/Products/Visual_Studio_Add-in/Coding_Assistance/






had +1'd but its a dupe of stackoverflow.com/questions/106340/…. - Ruben Bartelink


8

[+7] [2008-09-19 23:23:47] BlackMael


DevExpress CodeRush and Refactor!






9

[+6] [2009-02-12 15:55:58] Ruben Bartelink [ACCEPTED]


I couldnt live without instant gratification from OS_CompilationResult [1]. (It feels gimmicky, but I havent gotten around to uninstalling and a key feature is that you can start a build with Shift Ctrl B, switch to something else and it prompts when the build is finished). Of course my real answer is a +1 for CodeRush/Refactor Pro


[1] http://www.developerfusion.com/community/blog-entry-redirect/8388451/






New fave is DX_MoveCode which is a DXCore plugin that lets you tetris around classes, methods, lines and blocks interactively. Fantastic! - Ruben Bartelink

+1 for instant gratification as well, if I could. It's pathetic, but it was the instant selling feature for me when I saw Oliver Sturm demo the product last year. :) -ZombieSheep

@ZombieSheep: Whadya mean, if I could (you referring to CW not giving points?) Oliver's a great chap. The CR test runner seems to have nicked the presentation style too of OS_CompilationResult too! Also liking CR_ElectricEditing and CR_MSDNBclHelp lately too - Ruben Bartelink

meaning I already upvoted for CR/R! :) To be honest, I don't have many plugins installed since the OOTB functionality is soo good. :) - ZombieSheep

@ZombieSheep: Just removed ElectricEditing from my suite as it seems to conflict with DX_MoveCOde. I've got an issue lodged with DX to put DX_MoveCode into the core and Mark Miller says he has ideas on it. In the meantime, I'm delighted it exists and I couldnt live without it! - Ruben Bartelink


10

[+4] [2008-09-20 01:09:23] Terrapin


VisualSVN [1] for source control


[1] http://www.visualsvn.com/





11

[+4] [2008-09-21 07:17:20] sontek


Another great Visual Studio add-in is CodeKeep [1]. CodeKeep is a website for storing snippets of code online for use later (kind of like an organized pastebin) and the Visual Studio Add-In integrates with it so you can have all your code snippets synchronized between all your systems.


Here is a screenshot:


alt text


[1] http://www.codekeep.net/addins.aspx





12

[+4] [2008-09-21 07:40:30] Mitch Wheat


Reflector


ReSharper [1]


PowerCommands for Visual Studio [2]


AnkhSVN [3] (if you're using Subversion)


VSTS 2008 TFS Power Toys [4] (if you're using TFS)


[1] http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/index.html

[2] http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/PowerCommands

[3] http://ankhsvn.open.collab.net/

[4] http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=00803636-1d16-4df1-8a3d-ef1ad4f4bbab&displaylang=en





13

[+4] [2008-09-21 14:53:47] Diago


Currently I love using StyleCop [1] for Visual Studio. It is brilliant in assisting with Code Formatting and Rules. ALso it is a free product from Microsoft based on .Net Best Practices. As far as I know it only works for C#,


[1] http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/sourceanalysis/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=1425





14

[+3] [2008-09-20 02:37:21] Hamish Smith


Recently started to use this addin [1] from Mindscape.


It has the potential to reduce context switches between VS and Windows Explorer (i.e. to get at Tortoise SVN or something) and has a neat feature that lets you start a command prompt in a directory in you source tree.


[1] http://www.mindscape.co.nz/products/vsfileexplorer/






This is a really cool add-in that I've never heard of! Thanks - sontek


15

[+2] [2008-09-19 23:42:08] ljubomir


I actually have a favorite setting: Since i installed dark [1] theme on my VS i'm getting the code from totally different point of view. And i like it.


[1] http://idehotornot.ning.com/





16

[+2] [2008-09-20 03:54:16] sontek


I just found a great article talking about Ten Essential Visual Studio Add-ins every developer should know about, you can check it out here [1].


[1] http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc300778.aspx





17

[+2] [2008-09-20 18:24:15] Alex Lyman


All but one of the Add-ins I use daily have already been mentioned by others, so I'll just throw in the Resource Refactoring Tool [1]. Quite simply, it lets you take any hard-coded string, it creates a resource definition for it, and replaces all instances of that string in the entire project with a reference to the resource. Crazy handy when you have to write code with localization in mind.


[1] http://www.codeplex.com/ResourceRefactoring





18

[+2] [2008-09-21 07:52:30] Slace


When debugging Expression Trees in VS 2008 the Expression Tree Visualizer is great - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb397975.aspx






19

[+2] [2008-09-21 19:37:26] sontek


The Regions Manager [1] Add-In is great, It allows you to manage regions, move code into new regions or existing ones easily. It helps out a lot if you utilize regions heavily.


Edit: I also stumbled on another really good region manager plugin called regionerate [2].


[1] http://janyou.itpub.net/post/8897/460372

[2] http://www.rauchy.net/regionerate/






Of those two, I really prefer Regionerate. - Forgotten Semicolon


20

[+2] [2008-09-24 03:06:13] sontek


DXCore Community Plugins [1] is a collection of plugins built for DXCore (common IDE integration framework)


[1] http://code.google.com/p/dxcorecommunityplugins/





21

[+2] [2008-10-05 07:42:39] sontek


Linq2SQL Tools Add-in [1] Adds the ability to sync your DBML with your database, its not free though.


[1] http://www.huagati.com/dbmltools/





22

[+2] [2008-11-06 08:19:12] sontek


CodeRush Xpress [1] has come out and is being shipped for free!


[1] http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vcsharp/dd218053.aspx





23

[+2] [2011-01-23 18:34:42] BrunoLM


My set of add-ins is the following:



[1] http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/2d81fec6-71f3-4fa5-87b4-c2aa18e42f92

[2] http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/7dbae8b3-5812-490e-913e-7bfe17f47f1d

[3] http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/872d27ee-38c7-4a97-98dc-0d8a431cc2ed

[4] http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/d0d33361-18e2-46c0-8ff2-4adea1e34fef

[5] http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/16b9d664-d88c-460e-84a5-700ab40ba452

[6] http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/cb559aa8-d976-4cc2-9754-5a712f985d16

[7] http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/f27f5495-3987-4e0f-8ce3-9a95efc05ce0

[8] http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/B08B0375-139E-41D7-AF9B-FAEE50F68392





24

[+2] [2011-05-03 23:12:54] Ruben Bartelink


VSCommands [1] has lots of nifty frills for VS2010. Everyone will have a favorite - mine is the MSBuild summary dump, but I expect others will be interested in different parts. here's a pro edition, but the eval/community edition is worthwhile on its own in my experience.


[1] http://lostechies.com/jimmybogard/2011/01/27/reloading-all-projects-with-vscommands/





25

[+1] [2008-09-19 23:22:05] Eric Willis


Mostly amusing but I use it every time I reinstall Visual Studio is the Theme Generator, http://frickinsweet.com/tools/Theme.mvc.aspx






26

[+1] [2008-09-19 23:27:06] Charlie Oliver


One that I have found beneficial from time to time has to be the Skype in Visual Studio. Here is a great tutorial on how to implement it yourself:http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/Skype_in_Visual_Studio.aspx


It also includes the code so it makes it available to play with your own Visual Studio add in. Which in my opinion is the best part of the article.


A close second would be the following for XPath expressions: http://www.codeplex.com/xmlexplorer






27

[+1] [2008-09-22 05:06:22] sontek


Visual Local History [1] Allows you to have a revision history for local projects that you haven't placed in source control yet. This gives you the ability to keep revisions even when you are creating test/throw away projects.


[1] http://www.codeplex.com/VLH2005





28

[+1] [2008-09-24 02:19:56] sontek


Also check out: "Pimp My IDE": 101 Visual Studio tips, tricks, and add-ins [1]


[1] http://geekswithblogs.net/brians/archive/2008/05/12/122087.aspx





29

[+1] [2008-09-29 11:52:01] apathetic


CodeSpell [1]. Bad spelling looks unprofessional, and is difficult to refactor later in the project.


[1] http://www.exactmagic.com/products/codespell/index.html





30

[+1] [2008-09-29 20:32:48] danielswain


Re-sharper... now if only my company would buy me a copy.






31

[+1] [2008-10-10 18:12:44] koschi


I love IncrediBuild [1], a distributed compiling tool.


[1] http://www.xoreax.com/main.htm





32

[+1] [2009-10-01 16:02:38] Juan Calero





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