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Let me express the only feature I really desire in the next version of Visual Studio: Replace the format of all project and solution files with PowerShell scripts. I hear you groaning – just hear me out. I have many reasons for wanting this – too many to list all but the highlights here. In a nutshell they all boil down to the notion of simplicity. What new features would you like to see in the next version of Visual Studio?
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More options in its formatting preferences, e.g. always put a SPACE before a semi-colon, don't put a SPACE before empty braces, brackets, or parentheses.
I do a lot of my development at the command line and I create files for my library in a hierarchy. I do use Visual Studio when I have to and I have a Library project that is supposed to include all the files in the hierarchy, but of course it's often missing the latest files. Finding and adding such orphan files within VS is tedious. I have written a utility to try to add them to the project file, but I forget to use it and there's always the fear that it will corrupt the project file. I would like VS to be able to find and add orphan files.
The ability to build and run (and debug) a simple console app without requiring solution and project files -- like Turbo languages and Quincy*. A year ago I finally got around to writing a simple editor that will do that (except for the debugging part); I have it configured for C, C#, and VB.net.
Trim trailing whitespace on save and load (my editor does this too).
* I assume Quincy[^] still doesn't require project files, but I haven't used it since last millenium. Hmmm... same with Turbo...
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PIEBALDconsult wrote: The ability to build and run (and debug) a simple console app without requiring
solution and project files You do know you can run the C# compiler from the command line, right? Open one of the .NET SDK command prompts and use the CSC command.
Software Zen: delete this;
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The Powershell scripts look interesting, espeically if you can debug them. It also means that it is possible to use modules.
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Terrence Dorsey wrote: What new features would you like to see in the next version of Visual Studio?
The performance, fast load time, and simplicity of Visual Studio 97.
Color.
Normal menus, not SHOUTING menus (yes, I know those can be changed back)
A lean & mean IDE. I don't need a server explorer. I don't need a WPF editor. I don't need ASP.NET. I don't need wizards up the wazoo for things I never do. Hell, I don't even need a form designer most of the time. I don't need all that refactoring crap. I don't need integrated unit testing. Make the IDE truly component based so it loads only what I tell it to load and not all this bloated, implemented better by third parties, functionality.
Marc
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Marc Clifton wrote: I don't need a server explorer
No one does.
Marc Clifton wrote: I don't even need a form designer most of the time
Nor do I, which is why I usually use a simple text editor and compile at the command line.
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That is why I like SharpDevelop. As it is open source, it can be tailored to the needs of the person using it. I have done that, and I am using its code base to create a simple, embedded scripting IDE. (Which may take some time, as I still have to learn more about WPF and stuff).
Bob Dole The internet is a great way to get on the net.
2.0.82.7292 SP6a
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Terrence Dorsey wrote: What new features would you like to see in the next version of Visual Studio?
Speed.
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I second the PowerShell thing.
.....
I think I will try to hack SharpDevelop to do something like that and see how it works. Might be useful.
....
If the PowerShell thing fails, how about PowerShell for pre- and post-build events? THAT would be a useful thing.
I might just make some scripts and just execute them in the meantime.
Or use PSake[^]
Bob Dole The internet is a great way to get on the net.
2.0.82.7292 SP6a
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Microsoft was quite literally founded on Basic. Few of us who were doing software development in the 90′s could argue that Visual Basic successfully lowered the bar for entry such that just about anybody could write a simple program. I would even go so far as to say that Visual Basic was a key to the success of Windows in the 90′s and 00′s. Old languages never die... and they don't seem to fade away much, either.
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Terrence Dorsey wrote: lowered the bar for entry
Which is a very very bad thing. Would you want the bar for brain or heart surgeons lowered? I think not.
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The requirement for developers isn't the same as a neural surgeon. In a free market you get what you pay for and if customers want to pay less for crap, it's their choice.
With a surgeon you can't afford to take this risk, but if an 18 year old highschool graduate could perform surgery with the help of advanced robotic tools, then it doesn't really matter.
To reduce overhead for highly qualified staff, a lot of jobs in the medical sector are already being replaced by mere operators who control a machine and the doctor just sits in his office analyzing the data that comes back.
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JavaScript is not the answer. The problem with Visual Basic is when they did a complete redo for .NET. Somebody thought that VB should parallel C#. The result is a language that is not as easy for beginners.
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Yes. It justifies the existence of managers. Especially managers who hire VB programmers, replacing their C#/C++ staff, because they are more plentiful, cheaper, and don't use complicated architectures that the rest of us use. (Yes, that was actually the reason given to me.)
Marc
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why not?
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Did it ever need VB?
- Life in the fast lane is only fun if you live in a country with no speed limits.
- Of all the things I have lost, it is my mind that I miss the most.
- I vaguely remember having a good memory...
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We interrupt our regularly scheduled code quality content to raise awareness about a recently-disclosed, critical security vulnerability in Rails. On Tuesday, a vulnerability was patched in Rails’ Action Pack layer that allows for remote code execution. Since then, a number of proof of concepts have been publicly posted showing exactly how to exploit this issue to trick a remote server into running an attacker’s arbitrary Ruby code. This post is an attempt to document the facts, raise awareness, and drive organizations to protect their applications and data immediately. If you're running any Rails apps, get them patches ASAP!
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Emacs is an elderly piece of software, dating back to the mid 70's. Its philosophy of allowing people to easily extend it by modifying the live environment is something shared with a few other elderly-but-groundbreaking systems, such as lisp machines and Smalltalk. That philosophy seems rarer now. Don't be a passive consumer of tools, but instead actively programming your environment.
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For years I've tried my damnedest to get away from C. Too simple, too many details to manage, too old and crufty, too low level. I've had intense and torrid love affairs with Java, C++, and Erlang. I've built things I'm proud of with all of them, and yet each has broken my heart. They've made promises they couldn't keep, created cultures that focus on the wrong things, and made devastating tradeoffs that eventually make you suffer painfully. And I keep crawling back to C. C is the total package. What sounds like a weakness ends up being a virtue.
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The problem with C is that coders are not as efficient as with higher level programs. That means it is more expensive. Of course, outside of memory management (and hopefully threading in the future), and Spaghetti code, don't have to deal with figuring out how to do something unless it is external (RegEx is the ultimate if time wasting).
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In making the move from the Surface RT to the Surface Pro, we step up from 1,366 x 768 resolution to 1080p. Same 10.6-inch screen, just a lot more pixel density. And believe us when we say the difference is appreciable. In a side-by-side comparison with the RT, everything looked a little sharper, a little less pixelated. The "S" in the word "Start" on the Start screen, for instance, is thinner, less jagged than on the RT. It's a difference anyone can appreciate, even people who swear they're not display snobs.... Is this the Tablet PC we've been waiting for?
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More pixels => better picture. Gee, wish I had figured that out.
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With all of the hype about HTML 5, it sounded like we were on the way to web development nirvana where as long as you coded to the HTML 5 spec, things would “just work”. This is a great idea and it would be true except for the fact that developers are not coding to the HTML 5 spec, they are making sure that their stuff works great with WebKit based browsers. You can’t blame them since Safari and Chrome use WebKit, and therefore a huge majority of their mobile users are on WebKit. The W3C sees the danger of this and is very concerned that WebKit could become the defacto standard. You can't browser sniff for Karma.
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