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Thread: What is your Favorite New Feature?

  1. #1

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    ex-Administrator brad jones's Avatar
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    Question What is your Favorite New Feature?

    I'll ask this question of both the VB team members and of the members of VBForums in general.....

    What is your favorite feature (or expected favorite new features) of Visual Studio 2008? If you aren't using 2008 yet, then what about in 2005?

    I'd be curious to see if the VB team's reponses are the same as the VBF members!

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  2. #2
    Special Guest - Microsoft funkyonex's Avatar
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    Hi Everyone -- thanks for hosting the VB team this week!

    I'd have to say that there are so many features in VS2008 that I love but to pick a VB-specific feature I'd have to say my favorite is XML Literals. I've really been getting into LINQ and XML and it's just so pleasant being able to type XML literals into the editor and create, transform, and query XML with this much ease. If you'd like to read about some of my adventures take a look at the XML+LINQ tags on my blog. Also check out these How-Do-I videos to help get you up to speed.

    Enjoy!
    -Beth Massi, VS Community
    Last edited by funkyonex; Dec 10th, 2007 at 12:33 PM.

  3. #3
    Interweb adm/o/distrator Paul M's Avatar
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    One feature i really like is the Optional Parameters, which i would certainly love and sort of need in C#!

  4. #4
    Smooth Moperator techgnome's Avatar
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    Do Optional Parameters still exist in VB.NET? I've been using overloaded procedures for that. Not that I'd go back to Optional Parameters.

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  5. #5
    Interweb adm/o/distrator Paul M's Avatar
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    Yep using the Optional Keyword and they mast be the last parameters and have a default value.

  6. #6
    Smooth Moperator techgnome's Avatar
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    Ugh..... I thought that had gone away.... dang.

    -tg
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  7. #7
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    There are so many fun ones. My favorite still has to be Snap Lines on the Windows Forms designer. So simple .. so handy!
    Paul Yuknewicz
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  8. #8
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    I haven't used VS 2008 yet (looking forward to trying it) but my favourite feature of 2005 is the Object Test Bench.

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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    Hey there everyone, thanks for having us.

    There are so many cool new features in VS2008 but for me its the ridiculously helpful intellisense! Its positioning, the linq syntax support, the performance, makes it all too easy. A close second would be multi-targeting.

    Thanks
    Saaid Khan
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  10. #10
    Raging swede Atheist's Avatar
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    Quote Originally Posted by saaidak
    Hey there everyone, thanks for having us.

    There are so many cool new features in VS2008 but for me its the ridiculously helpful intellisense! Its positioning, the linq syntax support, the performance, makes it all too easy. A close second would be multi-targeting.

    Thanks
    I really like how the "intellisense-box" becomes transparent when you press and hold the right Alt button. Clever
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  11. #11
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    Yes. I totally agree with Intellisense, especially for it's behavior. It's now like C# (you can type a word, and intellisense will pop up. Something that you can't get in VB 2005.
    Check my Blog at VB Corner,Component Crafts

  12. #12
    type Woss is new Grumpy; wossname's Avatar
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    Optional parameters are the work of the devil. I think it encourages sloppy program design. It is more sensible to use multiple overloads of a function each taking different arguments. Then have one version call subsequently more generalised overloads to avoid code duplication and encourage re-use.
    Last edited by wossname; Dec 11th, 2007 at 07:28 AM. Reason: Nonsense
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  13. #13
    Interweb adm/o/distrator Paul M's Avatar
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    I don't see how that can be though? Each of the overloaded procedures are basically completing the same thing. The optional parameter basically encapsulates all of them and just makes life easier

  14. #14
    Smooth Moperator techgnome's Avatar
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    If you are repeating code.... then it's a poor design (IMHO).... when I overload subs, all of the subs with the lesser parameters call the one with the most parameters, passing in default values.

    But I guess to each their own.

    -tg
    * I don't respond to private (PM) requests for help. It's not conducive to the general learning of others.*
    * I also don't respond to friend requests. Save a few bits and don't bother. I'll just end up rejecting anyways.*
    * How to get EFFECTIVE help: The Hitchhiker's Guide to Getting Help at VBF - Removing eels from your hovercraft *
    * How to Use Parameters * Create Disconnected ADO Recordset Clones * Set your VB6 ActiveX Compatibility * Get rid of those pesky VB Line Numbers * I swear I saved my data, where'd it run off to??? *

  15. #15
    I'm about to be a PowerPoster! Joacim Andersson's Avatar
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    Re: What is your Favorite New Feature?

    Quote Originally Posted by wossname
    Optional parameters are the work of the devil. I think it encourages sloppy program design. It is more sensible to use multiple overloads of a function each taking different arguments. Then have one version call subsequently more generalised overloads to avoid code duplication and encourage re-use.
    Hmmm.... "Work of the devil", I wouldn't stretch it that far. I still use optional parameters at times as long as I don't need more than one, otherwise I go with overloading instead. Anyhow this discussion is a bit of topic since we're talking about new features and optional parameters have been available since VB4.

    When it comes to my own favorite new featurs in 2008 I can't do anything but agree with earlier posters. I absolutly love everything about LINQ and XML literals are such a beutiful feature that I almost got a tear in my eye the first time I heard about it. The fact that it's a pure VB concept also makes me smile a bit since C# usually gets most of the power first.

    For ASP.Net I absolutly love getting intellisense for JavaScript.

    Quote Originally Posted by Atheist
    I really like how the "intellisense-box" becomes transparent when you press and hold the right Alt button. Clever
    Thanks for the info Atheist, I hadn't even noticed that feature . No more "pressing-ESC-to-get-rid-of-the-drop-down-just-to-read-that-other-line-of-code-where-I-had-that-information-needed-on-this-line-as-well".

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