Mastering Visual Studio 2013

IDE
Another release of Visual Studio, another revised Integrated Development Environment, or IDE, but this one looks so much more friendly than its stark, monochromatic predecessor. Welcome to Module 2 of Mastering Visual Studio 2013. My name is Deborah Kurata and this module looks at the new IDE. This module takes a quick look at the new look and feel of the IDE. Then covers new features such as the Feedback options and the Notification Center. Then it's all about You. ‘Who Moved My Cheese' looks at the subtle, but potentially frustrating changes from Visual Studio 2012 to Visual Studio 2013. The goal of this clip is to prevent confusion by looking at features that were moved or changed, but don't fit into the new Feature category; for example, the SQL Server Menu that supports the SQL Server Data Tools was moved. Then we'll look at the Options Dialog. Yes, the Options Dialog has been around forever, but it received some notable enhancements. So let's take a look at the Visual Studio 2013 IDE.

Code Editor
As a developer, your focus is often on the code, so improvements to the Code Editor can make a big difference in your productivity and overall satisfaction with your coding experience. Welcome to module 3 of Mastering Visual Studio 2013. My name is Deborah Kurata and this module looks at the new and improved Code Editor features in Visual Studio 2013. This module includes the new Peek Definition feature that allows you to go to Definition without leaving your current location, the Enhanced Scroll Bar that tells you where you may want to go and what you will see when you get there, the Navigate To, or Ctrl + ", " feature, provides search as you type support for code files, full file paths, and symbol names, such as class names and member names. This feature was new in Visual Studio 2010, but improved significantly in 2013. The improvements include live result previewing using the Preview tab. You could always move lines using drag and drop with the mouse; now in Visual Studio 2013, you can move code lines using the keyboard. Automatic Brace Completion automatically closes your braces, brackets, parentheses, and quotes. Let's see these features in action.

Debugging
When you think about it, debugging is an odd name for the process of stepping through your code, but regardless of the name, stepping through code is very helpful in understanding how the code operates. So it's great to see that Visual Studio 2103 added some new debugging features. Welcome to module 5 of Mastering Visual Studio 2013, my name is Deborah Kurata and this module looks at some of the new and improved debugging and diagnostic features in Visual Studio 2013. This module includes function return value inspection. You can now view the return values of methods in the Autos window. This is especially useful in cases where the result of the method is passed directly as a parameter to another function. Edit and continue enhancements. Edit and continue now works when debugging 64-bit targeted environments. The Performance and Diagnostic hub provides a single point of entry for all Performance and Diagnostic tools. Other new debugging and diagnostic tools in Visual Studio 2013, such as the improved asynchronous debugging, are covered in other Pluralsight courses. Let's debug some code.