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Optimize Development Time
by Andy Clark
July 14, 2005
JetBrain's ReSharper provides tools that can make you a more productive C# developer. It integrates cleanly into the VS.NET environment and provides you with additional searching, code-completion, analysis, and template capabilities (see Figure 1).
I find myself especially drawn to ReSharper's search capabilities. You can display a popup window that shows where a variable or other search string is used throughout a module. You can click on this popup menu and move through the module looking at the individual references. This is a great tool for both support and development programmers fine-tuning the use of variables, properties, and methods.
ReSharper builds upon VS.NET's code-completion capabilities by providing a better context list when you enter a “.” after an object name. This icon-enhanced list shows you all the object's properties, methods, and collections. Further, as you scroll through the list, it gives a brief description of each item along with a discussion of its parameters and derivation. Finally, it continues to describe the selected item as you complete its parameters.
ReSharper offers several other tools designed to make you a more efficient developer. It has the ability to generate a method definition for you automatically. For example, if you type a line of code such as “int ndx = foo();”, ReSharper gives you the option of automatically creating foo's method definition (“private int foo() {}”). ReSharper also provides a number of templates such as “pci” for “public const int” and it lets you add your own templates.
I found JetBrain's support responsive and helpful. The product documentation could be improved to provide a better overview of ReSharper's capabilities, but the reference documentation is more than adequate and the tools are easily understood. I would like to see JetBrains expand ReSharper to support VB.NET as well as C#.
ReSharper 1.0.5
JetBrains
Web: www.jetbrains.com
Phone: 650-378-8571
Price: $149
Quick Facts: A variety of tools designed to improve coder efficiency.
Pros: Effective code search tool; support for templates; a variety of useful shortcuts.
Cons: Needs good overview documentation to assure that customers get the full benefit of the product.
About the Author
Andy Clark is a consultant with iGate Inc. in Richmond, Va. He holds PMP, MCSD, and SJCP certifications. Reach him at .
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