Tips and Tricks

7 Hidden Gems in Visual Studio 2017

Anson Horton October 5, 2017 Oct 5, 2017 10/5/17

I’ve been working on developer tooling for over 16 years, and I still love it when I find a new tip or trick that shaves seconds off a repetitive task. The set below are features that I see infrequently used but can save loads of time! Gem #1 - Expression Evaluator Format Specifiers The part of the debugger that processes the language ...

7 More Lesser-known Debugging Tactics for Visual Studio

Kaycee Anderson September 18, 2017 Sep 18, 2017 09/18/17

So, you really liked learning about 7 Lesser Known Debugging Hacks for Visual Studio? Good news is that there is always more to learn! The Visual Studio debugger is an enchanting creature that can save you loads of time while finding and fixing issues in your application. It is bursting with tools that can make debugging easier… if you know ...

7 lesser known hacks for debugging in Visual Studio

Visual Studio Blog June 26, 2017 Jun 26, 2017 06/26/17

The Visual Studio debugger is a magical beast that can save you loads of time while finding and fixing issues in your application. It is chock-full of tools that can make debugging easier… if you know they exist, and where to find them! Let’s look at 7 lesser known goodies you can use to help you #SuperChargeYourDebugging. 1. Click to Set ...

Visual Studio Hidden Gems

Visual Studio Blog July 29, 2016 Jul 29, 2016 07/29/16

Visual Studio is a powerful IDE with hundreds of productivity features to empower developers to do more, faster. I joined the Visual Studio team about a year ago, and here are some of the great things I’ve discovered. These are all in Visual Studio 2015, and some have been there for a few versions now so you’ll find them in previous ...

Tools for Apache Cordova – Samples and Docs

Visual Studio Blog June 1, 2015 Jun 1, 2015 06/1/15

Open source code is the norm for so many developers these days, and unsurprisingly, so is open documentation. From Azure to TypeScript, public repositories have become a go-to place for sharing samples, tutorials, and “tips and tricks” so that everyone can learn and contribute together as a community. So beginning today, we’...

Debugging Tips and Tricks

Visual Studio Blog May 22, 2015 May 22, 2015 05/22/15

Unfortunately bugs are a part of software development, and despite our best efforts to write software correctly from the start we spend a lot of time in the debugger. While bugs are an unfortunate fact of life, finding them doesn’t have to be as painful as it often is. For you problem-solvers out there, the Visual Studio 2015 debugger ...

15 minute blog post: A Hidden Feature in Visual Studio 2010

Visual Studio Blog June 5, 2010 Jun 5, 2010 06/5/10

The sunset in Seattle was spectacular this evening. My wife and I climbed the water tower in Volunteer Park to look across the Sound as the sun dipped behind the Olympic mountains and, in the space of a few minutes, the sky turned from blue to orange and pink. We both agreed that the Emerald City and its surroundings can be breathtakingly ...

Tips and Tricks: Apply (or Don’t Apply) Cut or Copy commands to blank lines

Visual Studio Blog March 25, 2010 Mar 25, 2010 03/25/10

As you may know, Visual Studio’s cut and copy commands are useful for more than just selected text. If you invoke them when there is no selection, VS will cut or copy your entire line, which saves you the trouble of selecting the line before adding it to the clipboard. Although a lot of developers find this helpful, we ...

Troubleshooting pkgdef Files

Visual Studio Blog March 22, 2010 Mar 22, 2010 03/22/10

For those using the Visual Studio 2010 SDK to create extensions for Visual Studio, you should find the creation and use of .pkgdef files to be mostly automatic (see What's a PkgDef and Why?). However, like anything involving computers and software, there are occasions that require manual intervention because they aren’t covered by the ...

Tips and Tricks: Quickly Closing Documents

Visual Studio Blog March 20, 2010 Mar 20, 2010 03/20/10

In VS 2010, we made a design decision to move the “X” from the right side of the Tab Well to within each tab. Before (VS 2008) After (VS 2010) The majority of feedback around this change was positive, but, as with most UI changes, there has been a vocal group that preferred the older placement. When asked what ...

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