As it turns out, I just realized the post where I talk about switching windows layouts in Visual Studio 2017 was dead on arrival. Well, the tips I gave regarding exporting/importing settings and using VCmd to automate some of that is still relevant and useful.

However, for switching windows layouts, somewhere between VS 2013 and 2017 the tool finally introduced something to make that easier:

Regardless of the approach, please consider using your screen real state wisely. I see a lot of developers fighting VS with its several windows all crammed into one screen, while the other screen has either MS-Outlook or a web browser open at all times showing all sorts of useless things that can only steal away productivity and focus.

I mentioned how eager status code analysis is awful. A policy that forces developers to put XmlDoc comments is a good example of that.

This is how I see it: as I think through how I want to implement something I create an interface (created off tests I just wrote). The code might look something like this…

Right off the bat, VS is already showing me squigglies on the code I just wrote. I hover over it and this is what I see:

Right now I can’t even compile the code, and I don’t feel like typing Xml comments because I’m still thinking through my design and implementation. Parts of this interface are likely to be changed very quick, and any sort of documentation will become useless.

Since I need to conform with this policy, I use GhostDoc to just spit out the comments:

At this point I don’t really care whether the auto-generate comments make sense or not; I’m just satisfying what’s required in this development environment setup so I can get my immediate work done.

Of course, now what used to take just under 10 lines of code cannot even fit on my screen anymore and it requires scrolling!! That’s unacceptable to me. I can’t quite function seeing so much clutter! Fortunately, I’ve found this NoComment extension, which gets those comments out of my sight:

Now I can actually focus on what’s really important. Later, when I’m done with my design and implementation, then, and only then, I can review those Xml Comments prior to committing the work to the central source control repository.

I like static code analysis.

I like how it reminds me how I can improve the code by applying certain refactoring patterns.

I like how it tells me how I can clean the code by using a new language feature I might not be aware of.

I like how it enforces a certain style and conventions on a codebase changed by several developers.

However, I have grown a special distate for static code analysis that’s run way too eagerly!

What do I mean by that? I do not like it when it’s run as I type the code. Done that way, it prevents me from finishing my thoughts. Many times I’m trying out ways to implement something, and I don’t like static analysis bugging me about things that aren’t important at that point in time. Treating those as errors make things even worse as the IDE shows red squigglies and distracts me.

I don’t like static analysis even when I compile the code. Why not? Because it gets in my way as I go through the Red-Green-Refactor process.

Static code analysis should run when we push the code to the central repository. At that point, check-in policies could block the commit if there are violations to the rules. Such analysis run any time before that is a productivity killer.

A whole decade ago (yikes, I’m getting old…) I wrote about how I was Organizing Windows and Multiple Monitors. I still use that approach when I’m working on a PC with dual monitors. The only thing that has changed is how I get it to work in Visual Studio 2017.

So, let me explain the steps I take.

I first set all the windows in VS according to how I want them when I’m focused on coding. In that case, I want to make full use of all my real state, which means, use my screens wisely. My dual-monitor setup look somewhat like this:

Once I found my perfect setup, I then export my settings by going to Tools -> Import and Export Settings…:

I then unselect all settings and select only General Settings -> Windows Layouts:

I export the settings to a dual-monitor.vssettings file on a c:\tools\settings folder.

Next, when working using a single monitor (which is usually the case when I’m in a conference room and projecting my screen), this is what my single-monitor setup looks like:

Once I’ve found my perfect setup for single monitor work, I export the windows layout settings to a single-monitor.vssettings file to my c:\tools\settings folder.

Now, whenever I want to switch between the different layouts, all I need to do is to import the settings accordingly.

But if you’re switching between layouts too often every day, then automate the process of importing settings!

It seems like VS 2017 has dropped support for Macros (seriously?). Fortunately, there’s a nifty extension out there called Visual Commander (I mentioned I was using it for Toggling Visual Studio CodeLens On/Off, remember?).

Once you’ve installed Visual Commander, you are welcome to download the commands I created to import single/dual monitor VS settings and import it into your Visual Commander setup. Once you’ve imported it, you can easily switch between layouts by using the commands under the VCmd menu:

The VCmd commands are simple macros that automate that simple process.

Also, if being two clicks away (or Alt+C + a few key strokes to access the menu option and hit Enter), you can set a shortcut in VS to access those commands! (See this other post if you need to learn how to do that).