newbie: what tools/utilities do you recommend?

[R.A.M.]

Hello,
I am learning .NET (mainly ASP.NET, C#, VB, C++, ADO.NET) and I have
installed Reflector and DotNetNuke. I have such question to experienced
programmers: what tools, utility programs for .NET do you use? For example,
is it worth to install NDoc? Any other recommendations?
Please help.
Thanks!
/RAM/

 

[John Vottero]

Hello,
I am learning .NET (mainly ASP.NET, C#, VB, C++, ADO.NET) and I have
installed Reflector and DotNetNuke. I have such question to experienced
programmers: what tools, utility programs for .NET do you use? For
example, is it worth to install NDoc? Any other recommendations?

NDoc is dead. You should look at Sandcastle as a replacement.

For a good list of tools, see: http://www.hanselman.com/tools

 

[Chris Mullins [MVP - C#]]

I have such question to experienced programmers: what tools, utility
programs for .NET do you use?

The list really isn't too long anymore, as Visual Studio has really gotten
to be excellent, but here it is:

The Free List:
- Reflector
- MBUnit / NUnit
- Sandcastle + GUI
- WinDbg, Son of Strike, ADPlus, sosex
- Daemon Tools (for instaling ISOs from MSDN)

The Paid List:
- Scitech Memory Profiler
- Redgate ANTS profiler
- Visio (for ORD & UML Diagrams)
- Snag-It (for screen shots)

Optional:
- CodeRush
- DevExpress Refactor (Pro)
- The Gimp for image manipulation.

Priceless:
- Windows Live / Yahoo / XMPP Messenger with lots of smart people as
contacts, so I can always get real-time help when I'm stumped.

Virutal Machines:
- XP, Vista, Widows 2003 images.
- Image permutations have IE6, IE7, FireFox, Office 2000, Office 2003,
Office 2007.

Note: I like VM-Ware much better than Virtual PC, and have a suitable
license. Virtual PC though is free, which is compelling for many. I also
have a full MSDN membership which lets me have licensed copies of all those
O/S for development. Your milage will vary depending on your licensing
scheme.

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

The list really isn't too long anymore, as Visual Studio has really gotten
to be excellent, but here it is:

The Paid List:
- Scitech Memory Profiler
- Redgate ANTS profiler
- Visio (for ORD & UML Diagrams)
- Snag-It (for screen shots)

<snip>

Eek - can't stand Visio, personally.

However, one tool which isn't on that list but I'd consider pretty much
mandatory is ReSharper. I know there have been performance problems in
the past, but it seems fine to me.

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

My brains, if something is so bad written that I cannot understand it
anymore, then I rewrite it, otherwise it would become impossible to
maintain.

Cor

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

My brains, if something is so bad written that I cannot understand it
anymore, then I rewrite it, otherwise it would become impossible to
maintain.

But to rewrite it while maintaining the same logic, if you can't
understand it you need to refactor it gradually into a more manageable
design. Rewriting from scratch is likely to cause subtle issues due to
not understanding exactly what the existing code does. I'm amazed that
we had to wait until 2005 to get refactoring (from MS) in VS...

Jon

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

Jon,

If I don't understand it anymore, then I will sent a mail to Reading.



(Not serious meant, however I saw so many tools, that I could not resist to
sent that message)

Cor

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

Jon,

Thinking about it, I am like a carpenter, a hammer is my first tool. (An
English one of course)

Cor

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

Thinking about it, I am like a carpenter, a hammer is my first tool. (An
English one of course)

And if you try to cut a piece of wood using a hammer, you'll end up
with an ugly mess. Use the appropriate tool for the job - and there are
lots of very useful tools around. Why not use them?

 

[Chris Mullins [MVP - C#]]

However, one tool which isn't on that list but I'd consider pretty much
mandatory is ReSharper. I know there have been performance problems in
the past, but it seems fine to me.

I pulled down and installed ReSharper for Orcas Beta 2. It doesn't yet
support C# 3.0, so I'm getting alot of erronous errors.

There are what look like a boatload of very cool features, but all of the C#
3.0 errors it's reporting keep getting in the way of the good stuff.

I thnk I'll put it in a holding pattern until the next rev comes out.

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

And if you try to cut a piece of wood using a hammer, you'll end up
with an ugly mess. Use the appropriate tool for the job - and there are
lots of very useful tools around. Why not use them?

If you use some of those tools wrong, you can end in a hospital. I use only
the tools I know how to handle and which give me the best result in the
shortest time.

By the way, most carpenters use most of the time only prefabric parts they
don't have to cut a piece of wood, like I am using most of the time only
..Net Classes.

(The first sentence a little bit given by the message of Chris)



Cor

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

If you use some of those tools wrong, you can end in a hospital. I use only
the tools I know how to handle and which give me the best result in the
shortest time.

If you can see other tools which are good, however, it's worth your
time learning them.

By the way, most carpenters use most of the time only prefabric parts they
don't have to cut a piece of wood, like I am using most of the time only
.Net Classes.

Okay, change it around a bit - would you use a hammer to put screws
into the wood? No - you'd use a screwdriver.

 

[Chris Mullins [MVP - C#]]

Okay, change it around a bit - would you use a hammer to put screws
into the wood? No - you'd use a screwdriver.

How about an acetylene torch to staple two pieces of paper together?

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

Jon,

I am not a proffesional carpenter, I often use that kind of tools you were
mentioning, however a proffesional carpenter with a very small toolkit has
forever better results then me when I try to make something like he does.



Cor

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

I am not a proffesional carpenter, I often use that kind of tools you were
mentioning, however a proffesional carpenter with a very small toolkit has
forever better results then me when I try to make something like he does.

Yes, a good software engineer with just Visual Studio is likely to be
better than a poor one with all the tools listed here. However, a good
software engineer with good tools as well is likely to be even better.