By James Avery
First Edition
March 2005
Pages: 500
Series: Hacks
ISBN 10: 0-596-00847-3 |
ISBN 13: 9780596008475
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)
This hands-on guide is designed for developers who want to go far beyond the obvious features of Visual Studio--the most powerful, feature-rich Integrated Development Environment (IDE) on the market today. It takes the reader on a detailed tour through code editor hacks, all manners of customization, even external tools such as PowerToys. Full of valuable tips, tools, and tricks.
Full Description
- Get the most out of projects and solutions, including getting down and dirty with the undocumented format of project and solution files
- Use these editor features to the fullest, and add additional functionality to the editor through the use of third-party add-ins
- Learn smarter ways to navigate the application and your own source code
- Customize shortcut keys, toolbars, menus, the toolbox, and much more
- Use the debugger successfully not only on your source code, but with T-SQL and scripting languages as well
- Automatically generate code
- Learn how the server can be used to interface with databases, services, and performance counters, as well as WMI
- Use and create Visual Studio add-ins to extend its functionality
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Browse within this book
Cover | Table of Contents | Index | Sample Hacks | Colophon
Book details
First Edition: March 2005
Series:
Hacks
ISBN: 0-596-00847-3
Pages: 500
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 2 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
great handbook, October 05 2006
First, I'm using 2003. For me, this book delivers what it promises. The IDE is becoming easier for me to use now. I'm used to Eclipse, which is still easier for me to handle, but the hacks in this book have been fantastic in helping me get the IDE under control. So if you are coming to Visual Studio 2003 from Eclipse, you will find this book easy to read and easy to put to use.
Not for Visual Studio 2005..., May 22 2006
I was expecting a book that would cover the Visual Studio 2005 IDE, not 2003. The coverage for the 2005 IDE is vague and in some places doesn't exist. Sorry.
Media reviews
"The material is well chosen and well organized. You will not find yourself using every trick in the book; nor will you download every add-in and extension mentioned. But, you will find many things which can make you a more efficient, productive, and sophisticated Visual Studio user. Whether you are a Visual Studio novice or a jaded VS hack, you will discover useful and helpful things which you can put to immediate use."
-- Will Wagers, C# Online.NET
"Avery's book is great both for new users of Visual Studio as well as the more experienced developer...This book is a critical addition to the bookshelf for any developer who spends any amount of time working in Visual Studio. You'll become much more productive by using tips in the book, and you'll find tips to help you decide which add-on tools you'll want to make use of. More importantly, you'll understand how to get the most out of Visual Studio's capabilities."
--Jim Holmes, Slashdot, August 2005
"This book absolutely opened my mind in terms of what Visual Studio can do, and how it can be tweaked to work better the way you want it to… If you find yourself doing the same thing every day in Visual Studio, chances are you don’t know what it’s even capable of. This book goes a long way to show you exactly what it can do. By hacking Visual Studio, you can make it do exactly what you need."
--Mike George "ueberhund," Amazon.com review, July 2005
"I am always looking for ways to allow me to be more effective, code faster, design more efficiently. Addins/plugins/code generators/custom toolbars, you name it - I got it. To that end, this book is simply awesome. In terms of programmer productivity and overall .NET coolness, it contains everything you need to go from zero to hero in the time it takes you to read this book.
"Anyway, to be an A player, you must have this book on your bookshelf. We rarely give 5 fingers out of 5, because most books lack a needed component to be great. Some have great technical info, but are written in a very dry manner. Others are great to read, but I've read it before in the online help, only it wasn't so amusing. This book has it all: the technical know how and the nice readable style. Thus it gets the highest grade."
--Robert Gelb, vbRAD, May 2005
"I highly recommend this book. I believe that it is a must-have companion for Visual Studio. Anyone that is establishing their project's IDE guidelines for their development team would be well-served by the material covered in this book. What a way to impress your boss."
--Blair Kennedy, Blair Kennedy Online, April 2005
"If you're not familiar with the Hacks series, the idea is to reclaim the word 'hack' to its original notion of finding a clever way to do something. And that's just what this book is full of: clever ways to do things with Visual Studio. Avery (and a whole raft of contributors) range all over this huge IDE. You'll learn about ways to organize projects and solutions, and ways to go in and muck around in the raw project and solution files when you absolutely have to. You'll get tips for making good use of all the various editors built into this environment... This isn't a comprehensive guide to Visual Studio (no book this short could deliver that), but it does show off an awful lot of powerful capabilities. You're pretty unlikely to have seen them all."
--Mike Gunderloy, Larkware.com, May 2005
"I highly recommend Visual Studio Hacks for anyone with less than 2 years experience using Visual Studio 2003. For those developers with more than 2 years experience, it may also be very valuable depending on the scope and depth of their experience. A few key points about why I really like this book: The book is enjoyable reading, intellectually stimulating and provides information that is practically relevant. There is insight from a number of different contributors, not just the primary author. While reading the book, I got ideas for other Hacks that I'll be testing."
--Steve Caravajal, Amazon.com, May 2005
"If you want to master the core aspects of Visual Studio .NET then Visual Studio Hacks should be on your bookshelves."
--Anand Narayanaswamy, Amazon.com, May 2005
"If you spend a fair amount of time writing code in Visual Studio.NET, then Visual Studio Hacks will definitely improve your productivity in writing, debugging, and maintaining code. You'll find everything from using (and the practical uses of) built-in features (such as the Clipboard ring) to in-depth explanations of downloadable add-ins."
--Alex Papadimoulis, Amazon.com, April 2005
"Anyone who uses Visual Studio without reading this book periodically is not working as efficiently as he could. O'Reilly does professional quality books for professional programmers, this one is true to their heritage."
--John Matlock, Books-On-Line, April 2005
