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Visual Studio 2019 Tricks and Techniques
Visual Studio 2019 Tricks and Techniques

Visual Studio 2019 Tricks and Techniques: A developer's guide to writing better code and maximizing productivity

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Profile Icon Aaron Cure Profile Icon Schroeder
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Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.2 (9 Ratings)
Paperback Jan 2021 386 pages 1st Edition
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Mex$648.99 Mex$721.99
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Mex$902.99
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Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Aaron Cure Profile Icon Schroeder
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Free Trial
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.2 (9 Ratings)
Paperback Jan 2021 386 pages 1st Edition
eBook
Mex$648.99 Mex$721.99
Paperback
Mex$902.99
Subscription
Free Trial
eBook
Mex$648.99 Mex$721.99
Paperback
Mex$902.99
Subscription
Free Trial

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Visual Studio 2019 Tricks and Techniques

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

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.

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Key benefits

  • 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

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.

Who is this book 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.

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

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jan 15, 2021
Length: 386 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781800203525
Vendor :
Microsoft
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Product Details

Publication date : Jan 15, 2021
Length: 386 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781800203525
Vendor :
Microsoft
Category :
Languages :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

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

Customer reviews

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Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.2
(9 Ratings)
5 star 66.7%
4 star 11.1%
3 star 11.1%
2 star 0%
1 star 11.1%
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Binit Datta Apr 12, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
When I started writing software applications, those apps were in support of the enormous human driven organization. Today we have come to a situation where complex software actually drive entire organizations and humans working for it. The need for quality software being produced faster is the key to compete in the marketplace today. From both the quality and shorter time to market perspectives, software production starts from the developer. Many organizations have tools like SonarQube to check software quality. However, if we make mistakes caught by Sonar and then correct them, critical time is lost. That is precisely where a world champion Integrated Development Environment (IDE) like the Visual Studio 2019 can readily and incredibly save time and boost developer/engineer productivity.While I have used Visual Studi 2019 before, the book with its chapters identifying various ways to do it right in less time is an incredible friend for engineers. Chapters that show Database Explorer, Coding, Compiling, Debugging, working with Code Repository are plentiful; what I found fascinating are the chapters that covered the CodeMaid, both Visual Studio and VS Code extensions, dealing with Project Templates and customizing templates. The chapter showing how to secure our code with Puma Scan is icing on the Cake. I am not talking about the developer/engineer point of view but talking from an architect or a project manager's perspective. Generating code that is clean, properly formatted, and secure before we can catch/verify the code with Sonar, Veracode is a massive productivity boost and has significant financial and timeline gains.Overall a Great Buy!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Dan Hermes Apr 15, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
So you know Visual Studio or VS Code basics and now you're ready for the next level of shortcuts and IDE tips. This book covers techniques to find, organize, and manage files. Avoiding long, boring lists of shortcuts, the easy-to-read explanations lead you through ways to move around your app code more easily. Get your Visual Studio Git-jitsu, snippet tricks, and advanced debugging knowledge here. There are a few old chestnuts such as debugging using Watches but many of the tips are a step beyond basic. Most of us won't need the three chapters on template customization. There are extension recommendations that include CodeMaid, CodeGenHero, and Puma Scan for security. Worth a read for those of us who use Visual Studio on Windows and also includes some help for VS for Mac and VS Code.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Ben Miller Feb 04, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book covers A LOT OF INFO! Instead of just one IDE, the authors frequently showed how to do things in VS 2019, VS Code, and VS for Mac. As an intermediate-level developer with a desire to become more expert, I found this book to be just right. The initial chapters were a little basic, but I did pick up some great tips. Almost every chapter had detailed hands-on exercises that were easy to follow thanks to all the screenshots. At first, I thought the organization was scattered, but after going through it, I see how each chapter’s content builds on previous examples as the complexity of concepts increases.The downloaded source code worked well with the exercises, though I might have liked to see a Blazor example or two. Also, some of the content in the later chapters was pretty advanced for me, but it was cool to learn how Visual Studio works its magic “behind the scenes”. It definitely gave me a good understanding and I’ll come back to this book as a reference once I get to that level!Overall, a pretty solid book that is well-written, moves quickly, and explains things in plain English. I’m giving it five stars because it was easy to follow, had lots of best practice advice, and I learned a number of new techniques. I considered giving it four stars because it lacks Blazor examples, but the chapters on VS extensions were pretty unique and can appreciate it’s hard to be everything to everyone at all skill levels. Overall, recommended for those who want to become way more proficient with Visual Studio and don’t mind that not every chapter covers things they will use in practice every day.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Raaaj Apr 17, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I am extremely amazed by the details and explanations given in the book. I have recently started using Visual Studio 2019 and this book is very helpful to me.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Robert Frey Apr 04, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I've used Visual Studio 2019 for years and found this book quite insightful in regard to helping me better manage my code bases and projects. There are great examples and walkthroughs of how to perform common tasks, refactor code, and even deploy code all using Visual Studio. There is plenty of material, that is easy to follow, for the new programmer graduate to a seasoned Senior Software Engineer that is quite helpful in pulling together good code practices. What Microsoft has provided in its Azure DevOps, Azure CI/CD pipeline and more is all availed with simple plug-ins for Studio. You can be in the cloud in 10 minutes if you want to. Great primer for any one using Visual Studio, it can only add to your experience. I highly recommend this book to all Microsoft, Visual Studio, programmers.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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