This book contains the best 251 tips for mastering the ins and outs of the Visual Studio environment. Imagine every Tools Options setting that’s generic across any language explained using the simplest examples. Imagine every nook and cranny of the core environment illustrated for you to explore. The tips in this book explore these aspects of the Integrated Development Environment (IDE), so you don’t have to imagine anymore.
Before you jump straight in to the tips, please note: It is imperative you know which development settings you are using, so you know which keyboard shortcuts to use.
I wrote these tips using the Generic Development Settings and the U.S. English keyboard layout. You can use Tip 6.1: How to find what development settings you last reset to to find out which development settings you are using and Tip 6.2: How to reset your environment settings via Tools–Import And Export Settings to reset your settings, in case you want to follow along directly word for word and keyboard shortcut for keyboard shortcut.
If you want to follow along using your current settings, please read Tip 0.0: How to Look Up, Change, or Create Visual Studio Keyboard Shortcuts, found at the end of this introduction, to know which keyboard shortcuts to use. And yes, I was clearly a math major in college, since I start counting at 0.
In March of 2005, I shared an office with Sean Laberee, the program manager for the Visual Studio core editor. While I was walking out the office to grab lunch one day, the words "Tip of the Day" on his monitor caught my eye. I didn’t want Sean to think I was intentionally reading his monitor, but at the same time, I was too intrigued by the idea to just let it go.
When I got back, I asked him about this "Tip of the Day." He explained his idea of having these "did you know" tips on the Visual Studio start page. I suggested that we use my blog to experiment with an editor tip of the day for a few months. I had recently joined the editor team as a software tester, and I was surprised how much functionality existed that I didn’t know about.
Now enter Rob Caron, a marketing manager for Visual Studio. Rob noticed the experiment on the MSDN RSS feed and inspired me to go above and beyond by running a weekly tip series on more aspects of Visual Studio. He gave the tips much love by featuring them on the Visual Studio home page.
I had to share my excitement seeing the tips on the product’s Web site, so I called home on Saturday, August 27, 2005, to tell my family to check this out. But the excitement was very short-lived. My mom informed me that "the big one" was out there in the Gulf of Mexico, heading toward New Orleans. I said, "Oh really? I haven’t been following hurricane season this year. What’s the name?" I would never hear the name Katrina quite the same again.
In Spring of 2007, after having made the career switch from software design engineer in test to program management, I decided I would try the weekly tip series again for Visual Studio 2008. Again, enter Rob Caron. He says, "You know, a tip of the day would really rock." I am completely powerless to say no to big challenges.
The idea of writing a book and donating the author royalties was always in the back of my head during the Visual Studio 2008 "Tip of the Day" series, given how I had just left the Visual Studio team to join the CodePlex team. Fortunately, thanks to all the requests to write a book from my blog readers over the next several months, I realized the time had come.