The chapters correspond to how we, the Visual Studio Core QA Team, categorized the feature areas internally for the Visual Studio 2005 product cycle. Some feature areas, like the editor, were so big that I had to break them out into several chapters. Other chapters seemed to flow better when based on functionality, like the tool windows versus dialog boxes sections in Chapter 5 and Chapter 6.

Tips are numbered sequentially within each chapter. For example, Chapter 3 contains 23 tips, so you’ll find the tips ordered as Tip 3.1: How to behold the power of incremental search, Tip 3.2: You can use Ctrl+F3 to search for the currently-selected word without bringing up the Find And Replace window, all the way to Tip 3.23. We figured it is easier to refer to a tip as Tip 3.23 rather than Tip 103, if we numbered sequentially throughout the book, or Tip 3.4.3, if we broke them down into subsections.

Additionally, you’ll see my "Sara Asides" throughout these tips, where I share something personal in regard to the tip, whether it is a stroll down memory lane, an FYI about how the feature was tested, a story about writing the tip for the "Tip of the Day" series, or a rant about Seattle weather.

Lastly, I decided to give ya’ll some good New Orleans–style lagniappe—a little something extra on the side, free of charge. I’ve included appendices where I share more tips on things beyond Visual Studio, like writing a "Tip of the Day" series, surviving as a software tester, and stories about creating the IDE from those who were there.