Visual Studio 2019 Tricks and Techniques

A developer's guide to writing better code and maximizing productivity

Paul Schroeder, Aaron Cure

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781800203525
• eBook ISBN: 9781800200142
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Programming in C#
• Index: Computer Science

Harness the full power of the Visual Studio IDE to take your coding skills to the next level by learning about IDE productivity practices and exclusive techniques

Key Features

• Increase your productivity by leveraging Visual Studio 2019's improvements and features
• Explore powerful editing, code intelligence, and source code control features to increase productivity
• Delve into VS's powerful, untapped features such as custom project templates and extensions

Book Description

Visual Studio 2019 (VS 2019) and Visual Studio Code (VS Code) are powerful professional development tools that help you to develop applications for any platform with ease. Whether you want to create web, mobile, or desktop applications, Microsoft Visual Studio is your one-stop solution. This book demonstrates some of the most sophisticated capabilities of the tooling and shows you how to use the integrated development environment (IDE) more efficiently to be more productive.

You'll begin by gradually building on concepts, starting with the basics. The introductory chapters cover shortcuts, snippets, and numerous optimization tricks, along with debugging techniques, source control integration, and other important IDE features that will help you make your time more productive. With that groundwork in place, more advanced concepts such as the inner workings of project and item templates are covered. You will also learn how to write quality, secure code more efficiently as well as discover how certain Visual Studio features work 'under the hood'.

By the end of this Visual Studio book, you'll have learned how to write more secure code faster than ever using your knowledge of the extensions and processes that make developing successful solutions more enjoyable and repeatable.

What you will learn

• Understand the similarities and differences between VS 2019 and VS Code
• Get to grips with numerous keyboard shortcuts to improve efficiency
• Discover IDE tips and tricks that make it easier to write code
• Experiment with code snippets that make it easier to write repeating code patterns
• Find out how to customize project and item templates with the help of hands-on exercises
• Use Visual Studio extensions for ease and improved productivity
• Delve into Visual Studio's behind the scene operations

Who this book is for

This book is for C# and.NET developers who want to become more efficient and take advantage of features they may not be aware of in the IDE. Those looking to increase their productivity and write quality code more quickly by fully utilizing the power of the Visual Studio IDE will also find this book useful.

Section 1: Visual Studio IDE Productivity Essentials

This section provides the foundational knowledge all developers using Visual Studio should know in order to improve their productivity. Beyond the basics, some of the lesser-known features of the integrated development environment (IDE) are uncovered. Numerous hands-on exercises dive deep into how Visual Studio works behind the scenes.

This section has the following chapters:

• Chapter 1, Flavors of Visual Studio
• Chapter 2, Keyboard Shortcuts
• Chapter 3, IDE Tips and Tricks
• Chapter 4, Working with a Repository
• Chapter 5, Working with Snippets
• Chapter 6, Database Explorers
• Chapter 7, Compiling, Debugging, and Version Control

Chapter 1: Flavors of Visual Studio

Microsoft Visual Studio is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) from Microsoft. Over its more than twenty-year history, it has been used by developers to develop all kinds of computer programs, web applications, web APIs, and mobile apps. A 2019 survey by Stack Overflow found Visual Studio and its cousin, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), to be two of the most popular development environments among all survey respondents (see https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2019):

Figure 1.1 – Stack Overflow 2019 survey

Note on Stack Overflow 2020 survey results

Although Stack Overflow's 2020 survey results were available at the time of writing, they did not seem to include the same specific question on development environments.

Visual Studio provides robust coding and debugging capabilities as well as extensive integration for deployment and source control needs. You can use it to program anything from a desktop business application, to a web site, mobile application, or Unity game.

If you are new to programming or .NET development, it is important to understand that there are several options to consider before starting. This chapter's primary focus is to cover some key factors you should consider when deciding which product "flavor" of Visual Studio is right for you, including the following:

• Primary operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux)
• Target framework (.NET full framework, .NET Core)
• Team size and budget
• Application type (Windows, web, mobile, server, or console)
• Cross-platform portability requirements
• Chosen programming language (such as C#, VB, Python, Ruby, or NodeJS)

The reason why we must examine the aforementioned points in detail is because Microsoft has combined what are actually multiple, separate, products under a single marketing umbrella. This can make choosing between these products confusing and so we will take a moment to clearly identify each version, differentiate their features, and provide some guidance on which version may be best for your purposes.

Technical requirements

The code for this book is available on GitHub at: https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Visual-Studio-2019-Tricks-and-Techniques/tree/main/.

Please check the following link for CiA videos: http://bit.ly/3oxE5QM.

Quick reference cheat sheet

With so many options, how does a developer know which version to use? The following is a list of simplified suggestions to help you choose a particular flavor:

• If you are using a PC and are brand new to software development, start with VS 2019 Community.
• If you are using a PC as an experienced developer, or have a well-funded company footing the bill, consider the VS 2019 Professional or VS 2019 Enterprise editions.
• If you're primarily a web developer planning to use NodeJS and TypeScript, try VS Code.
• If you're developing cross-platform iOS/Android mobile apps, consider using VS for Mac.
  Have you already decided on which version to use?
  If you have already figured out which version of Visual Studio is right for you, then feel free to skip this chapter's content. Alternatively, if you are an experienced developer, skim this material looking for new tidbits, such as GitHub Codespaces.

For those readers that need more information to decide, let's begin digging into the details of the most long-lived product flavor, Visual Studio for Windows.

Visual Studio 2019 (Windows)

Let's start with Visual Studio 2019 (VS 2019), a Windows-based IDE (pronounced AYE-dee-ee). Some people will refer to this product as the full version. This version only runs on Windows (not cross-platform), but it does support both .NET "full framework" and .NET Core (cross-platform) project targets. Something all versions of Visual Studio do exceptionally well is work with diverse programming languages (including C, C++, Visual Basic. NET, C#, F#, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Ruby, and Node.js).

Different tiers of features are offered, depending on your needs and budget. Current versions of VS 2019 include a free Community edition as well as paid Professional, Enterprise, and Test Professional versions. The Community and Professional editions are nearly identical when it comes to operational features and, for most development tasks, any version of Visual Studio will work.

The Community version is depicted in the screenshot that follows and you will find virtually no difference between its appearance and that of the other versions:

Figure 1.2 – VS 2019 Community – Windows

Even with multiple options, choosing a Visual Studio edition is much easier today than in the past. Previously, certain project types could only be loaded in one edition or another, and many add-ins would not run in certain editions. Complex licensing issues compounded these problems, making it more difficult to choose.

Today, even the free Community edition is a powerful environment with much to offer. Many of the popular features, such as peeking at definitions, multi-targeting of release targets, and refactoring are supported in all editions.

More succinctly, the major versions of VS 2019 are as follows:

• Community – Free for students, open source contributors, and individuals
• Professional – The best choice for small teams
• Test Professional – An option for dedicated Quality Assurance (QA) roles
• Enterprise – Offers extra features (mentioned later in this chapter) and works well for teams of any size

In the past, the Community version, originally labeled "Express," was a very limited version that allowed only basic application development but would not allow for particular target types (such as Visual Studio plugins), and would also not allow a number of plugins to run. While some of these limitations seemed minor, they were enough to create negative perceptions of the platform among some developers and sour development community sentiment on the Community version. In recent years, Microsoft has removed many of the original restrictions and enabled so much functionality in this version that the experience is now very similar to the Professional version.

Traditionally, the Professional version was the lowest tier version for "true" developers. Because of the limitations of other versions, this was the only way to do "actual" development. This version tier is (and always has been) a full-featured IDE with all the bells and whistles you would expect in a professional development tool.

A key difference is that VS 2019 Community is free, while the Professional version retails for about $1,199 for the first year's subscription and $799 annually for renewal thereafter. However, there are license restrictions that limit use of Visual Studio Community to teams of less than five developers. Also, it cannot be used by commercial organizations with over $1 million US dollars in annual revenue.

For those whose focus is purely QA, and not development, Test Professional is another option to consider. It provides an integrated testing toolset for QA ...

Table of contents

• Visual Studio 2019 Tricks and Techniques
• Why subscribe?
• Preface
• Section 1: Visual Studio IDE Productivity Essentials
• Chapter 1: Flavors of Visual Studio
• Chapter 2: Keyboard Shortcuts
• Chapter 3: IDE Tips and Tricks
• Chapter 4: Working with a Repository
• Chapter 5: Working with Snippets
• Chapter 6: Database Explorers
• Chapter 7: Compiling, Debugging, and Versioning
• Section 2: Customizing Project Templates and Beyond
• Chapter 8: Introduction to Project and Item Templates
• Chapter 9: Creating Your Own Templates
• Chapter 10: Deploying Custom Templates
• Section 3: Leveraging Extensions for the Win
• Chapter 11: Overviewing Visual Studio 2019 Extensions
• Chapter 12: Overviewing VS Code Extensions
• Chapter 13: CodeMaid is Your Friend
• Chapter 14: Be Your Team's Hero with CodeGenHero
• Chapter 15: Secure Code with Puma Scan
• Appendix
• Other Books You May Enjoy