Question

Best Visual Studio.NET Add-in for coding/refactoring productivity

Asked by: Justin_W

I am looking for input about the "best" Add-in(s) for Visual Studio.NET (2005 or later) related to accelerating developers' productivity in the area of coding/code modification/refactoring.

Specifically, I am trying to establish a corporate standard/best practice and am looking for an "ideal" software configuration that will maximize the company's .NET developers' productivity (i.e. a developer's overall contribution/benefit to the business).

Specifically, which of the following "coding productivity" add-ins would you recommend, and why?
A1: JetBrain's Resharper
A2: Developer Express's CodeRush
A3: Whole Tomato's Visual Assist X
A4: Other?

The recomended tool(s) _don't_ need to be free, but I'm specifically looking for recommendations (and/or warnings to avoid specific apps) based on personal experiences and/or evaluations (rather than just a link to the tool's website). Input from anyone who has personal experience with more than one of the above tools and that compare and contrast the recommended tool(s) with the tools' competitors would be especially appreciated.

Thanks.

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Asked On
2007-08-28 at 10:30:48ID22792217
Tags

visual

,

assist

,

best

,

refactor

Topics

.NET

,

Visual Studio

,

.Net Editors & IDEs

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
11

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Answers

 

by: emoreauPosted on 2007-08-28 at 11:28:31ID: 19785644

 

by: Justin_WPosted on 2007-08-28 at 11:35:45ID: 19785687

@emoreau: Can you please provide any personal experiences or insight about that tool? Thanks.

 

by: emoreauPosted on 2007-08-28 at 11:44:25ID: 19785743

I really like features like Review Dead Code, Review Tab Index, code standards, procedure callers, enriched find/replace, statistics, ...

 

by: samtran0331Posted on 2007-08-28 at 12:09:20ID: 19785952

I've used these 2:
A2: Developer Express's CodeRush
A3: Whole Tomato's Visual Assist X

All the ones you mention are competing products; so functionality is going to overlap.
Of the 2, I like CodeRush best; it's more robust...but does cost a bit more.

 

by: gregoryyoungPosted on 2007-08-28 at 15:59:12ID: 19787550

Resharper +1

 

by: Justin_WPosted on 2007-09-19 at 09:44:39ID: 19922270

Bob, this question has not been abandoned. I am still reviewing the responses, but will close the question soon.

 

by: xpcoachPosted on 2007-09-19 at 13:09:24ID: 19923983

I recommend Resharper, though my own use of it has been limited of late (not doing a whole lot of development in .NET).  In fact, my recommendation of Resharper was spawned from the fact that Resharper turns VS.NET into a tool resembling IDEA, a Java IDE that I've used extensively in the past.  IDEA was often quite surprisingly intuitive, full of useful refactorings, and smart and unobtrusive as to when/where/how it would make suggestions (the antithesis of "Clippy" the Office Annoyance ;-).

The recommendation is bolstered by various teams that I've coached, and individuals whom I've trained, who sing the praises of Resharper.  Since they're spending more time "in the trenches," I take their recommendations seriously.

It will change the way you work with VS.NET, and therefore I suggest that the team as a whole adopt this tool if they're going to be sharing machines.  I suppose an individual can start the process in isolation, and then amaze and delight other teammates (and impress mamagement with your productivity).  But if you're pairing, you want programmers to settle on a similar configuration so you can drive or navigate at any workstation.

 

by: Justin_WPosted on 2007-09-19 at 13:14:50ID: 19924032

@xpcoach: Thanks. That is very helpful info.

 

by: Justin_WPosted on 2007-10-09 at 11:47:26ID: 20043427

Thanks to all of you for the input. And special thanks to xpcoach for your detailed comments.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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