Dirk Strauss

Getting Started with Visual Studio 2019

Learning and Implementing New Features

Dirk Strauss
Uitenhage, South Africa
ISBN 978-1-4842-5448-6e-ISBN 978-1-4842-5449-3
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5449-3
© Dirk Strauss 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use the names, logos, and images only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
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To Adele, Tristan, and Irénéé.

My everything for you, always!

Introduction

Visual Studio 2019 is the next version of the stellar development tool we love to use. This book is for folks ready to get to know the IDE a little bit better. It aims to get you started on the road to exploring Visual Studio 2019, beyond what you are already comfortable with.

The book starts off with installing Visual Studio and adding workloads. Then you explore the IDE a bit more before having a look at the existing (and some new) features in Visual Studio. After that, a few productivity tips are thrown in for good measure.

Being able to effectively work with different project types and knowing when to use which are explored in a bit more detail in Chapter 2 . We will also have a look at using NuGet packages and how to manage them. We then see how to make use of project templates and then explore using and creating code snippets. This chapter covers many of the basics that are essential to working with Visual Studio and include using bookmarks, code shortcuts, the Server Explorer, and other Visual Studio Windows.

In Chapter 3 , we will take a closer look at debugging techniques such as using breakpoints, setting conditional breakpoints, breakpoint actions, and labels. We will see how to effectively use data tips as well as the DebuggerDisplay attribute. We then take a closer look at diagnostic tools and the Immediate Window. Finally, to close off the debugging chapter, we see how to attach to a running process and how to use remote debugging.

The next chapter will introduce you to creating and running unit tests. We will also see how to create live unit tests, how to use IntelliTest to generate unit tests, and how to measure code coverage in Visual Studio.

Finally, we look at working with Git and GitHub. We see how to create a GitHub account and what creating and cloning a repository involves. You will learn how to commit changes in code to the repository and how to create a branch of your code when you need to work on a new feature in isolation. Then we will look at creating a pull request and how these pull requests are handled. Lastly, we have a look at the benefit of working with stashes.

If you need a nice reference book that deals exclusively with (and only with) Visual Studio, then have a look at what this book has to offer you. If you spend any time using Visual Studio or want to learn how working with Visual Studio 2019 can increase your productivity, then this book will make a perfect reference book for your office.

Acknowledgments

First off, I would like to thank my wife and children for their support while writing this book. I would not have been able to do it without you on my side.

I would also like to thank the team at Apress for their support of this book and for turning my vision into reality. It is a topic that I have wanted to write about for a very long time.

I want to thank James McCaffrey for his help and dedication during the review of this book. Technically reviewing a book such as this is not easy, and his feedback and suggestions are always appreciated and highly valued.

Last, but not least, I want to thank you for reading this book. Your passion to know more is what drives me to learn more, and impart what I learn. It’s a symbiotic relationship that benefits us as we both grow and become better at what we do.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1:​ Getting to Know Visual Studio 2019 1
Installing Visual Studio 2
Visual Studio 2019 System Requirements 4
Using Workloads 6
Exploring the IDE 9
The Solution Explorer 9
Toolbox 19
The Code Editor 21
Navigating Code 26
Navigate Forward and Backward Commands 26
Navigation Bar 27
Find All References 28
Reference Highlighting 30
Go To Commands 31
Go To Definition 33
Peek Definition 34
Features and Productivity Tips 35
Track Active Item in Solution Explorer 36
Hidden Editor Context Menu 37
Open in File Explorer 38
Finding Keyboard Shortcut Mappings 39
Clipboard History 39
Go To Window 40
Navigate to Last Edit Location 41
Multi-caret Editing 41
Features in Visual Studio 2019 44
Visual Studio Search 44
Solution Filters 45
Visual Studio IntelliCode 51
Visual Studio Live Share 55
Chapter 2:​ Working with Visual Studio 2019 61
Visual Studio Project Types 62
Various Project Templates 67
Managing NuGet Packages 73
Using NuGet in Visual Studio 74
Hosting Your Own NuGet Feeds 81
Creating Project Templates 82
Creating and Using Code Snippets 87
Creating Code Snippets 90
Using Bookmarks and Code Shortcuts 95
Bookmarks 95
Code Shortcuts 98
Adding Custom Tokens 101
The Server Explorer 104
Running SQL Queries 111
Visual Studio Windows 116
C# Interactive 117
Code Metrics Results 118
Send Feedback 122
Chapter 3:​ Debugging Your Code 123
Working with Breakpoints 124
Setting a Breakpoint 124
Conditional Breakpoints and Actions 130
Manage Breakpoints with Labels 135
Exporting Breakpoints 138
Using DataTips 139
Visualizing Complex Data Types 140
Using the Watch Window 144
The DebuggerDisplay Attribute 144
Evaluate Functions Without Side Effects 147
Format Specifiers 151
Diagnostic Tools 152
CPU Usage 155
Memory Usage 157
The Events View 159
The Right Tool for the Right Project Type 160
Immediate Window 161
Attaching to a Running Process 163
Attach to a Remote Process 165
Reattaching to a Process 166
Remote Debugging 167
System Requirements 167
Download and Install Remote Tools 168
Running Remote Tools 169
Start Remote Debugging 170
Chapter 4:​ Unit Testing 175
Creating and Running Unit Tests 175
Create and Run a Test Playlist 182
Testing Timeouts 184
Using Live Unit Tests 186
Using IntelliTest to Generate Unit Tests 191
Focus IntelliTest Code Exploration 202
How to Measure Code Coverage in Visual Studio 204
Chapter 5:​ Source Control 209
Create a GitHub Account 210
Create and Clone a Repository 214
Cloning a Repository 228
Create a Branch from Your Code 233
Creating and Handling Pull Requests 240
Working with Stashes 255
Index 261

About the Author and About the Technical Reviewer

About the Author

Dirk Strauss
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is a software developer from South Africa with over 13 years of programming experience. He has extensive experience in SYSPRO Customization, with C# and web development being his main focus. He studied at the Nelson Mandela University where he wrote software part-time to gain a better understanding of the technology. He remains passionate about writing code and imparting what he learns with others.

 

About the Technical Reviewer

James McCaffrey
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works for Microsoft Research in Redmond, Wash. James has a PhD in cognitive psychology and computational statistics from the University of Southern California, a BA in psychology, a BA in applied mathematics, and an MS in computer science. James worked on several key products including Azure and Bing. James is also the Senior Technical Editor for MicrosoftMSDN Magazine , the most widely read technical journal in the world.

 
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