On June 9, 2008, yes I am behind on this one, Ilya Ryzhenkov announced on the ReSharper Blog, that ReSharper 4.0 has been released. This release includes full support for C# 3.0, lambdas, extension methods, LINQ, object and collection initializers, anonymous types, automatic properties and partial methods. Check out a more complete list on the New Features page.
I have downloaded and installed the this version and am loving the full Visual Studio 2008 integration. The one thing that I might argue about is the implicitly typed locals (“vars”). I haven’t made up my mind on these yet. I will have to re-wire my thinking, since I always think about the old Visual Basic Variant type and shiver.
I still believe that ReSharper is a must have for any developer coding in reverse or using any of the *DD, (TDD, DDD, BDD) styles of development.
Thanks to Scott Dorman’s post I was made aware of the latest CTP release of Windows Live Writer. I have used Live Writer to compose my blog post for some time, but have been unable to use it at work because the Live Installer has been blocked. Mainly because it also contains the Windows Live Messenger install, which we are not allowed to use. Don’t ask, different story. The advantage of the CTP is that it comes in it’s own installer. Yea! Me! I can just wrote this post with the new install, I am in blog heaven.
There have been a lot of changes between the last beta and this CTP, including some much needed UI improvements and new features, including:
- Upload videos to Soapbox
- Image cropping and tilting
- Additional border styles
- Support for LightBox
and other image previewing effects (like Slimbox, Smoothbox, and others)
- Support for centering images
- Auto Linking
- Smart quotes/typographic characters
- Word count
- Tabs for view switching
- Improved category control with search/filtering
There are also some SDK updates that will provide a lot of flexibility for plug-ins, including a new set of experimental API hooks for pre- and post-publish events. For more details about the SDK, check out the blog post on Windows Live Dev.
JetBrains has released ReSharper v4.0 Beta for VS2008, I have been running the nightly builds for a while and am glad to see the beta realase. I have already downloaded and installed it, and like the nightly builds it appears very usable.
Some new features in ReSharper 4.0:
- Full support for C# 3.0 and LINQ
- New code analysis, context actions and quick-fixes
- New refactorings (such as Convert to Extension Method, Convert to Automatic Property, Convert Anonymous Type to Named)
- Complete Statement, Ctrl+Shift+Enter
- CamelHumps in Code Completion
- Live Templates Editor & Manager
- Recent Edits
- ASP .NET speed ups
Pick up the ReSharper 4.0 Beta for VS2008 here http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/beta/beta.html.
If you are like me you don't want to go a day without it.
Recently, in my attempts to learn Test Driven Development (TDD) I have found it necessary to pair with other more experienced programmers who can help me along in my journey to AltDotNet mastery. One tool that has really helped with this has been Microsoft SharedView. Microsoft SharedView is a desktop sharing application that allows up to 15 people to collaborate. Any of the 15 people can control the shared desktop, which is critical to making pairing a reality.
Microsoft SharedView is offered as a free download and utilized your Windows Live™ ID create and share sessions. I have really enjoyed the collaborative experience it has brought to these remote coding sessions.
I have also evaluated other offering such as RemoteX for Skype, but have found that when things go wrong we always fall back to SharedView.
I'd love to hear from others that have done virtual pairing and hear what you have used and how well it worked.