10+ Must-Have .NET Development Tools
10+ Must-Have.NET Development Tools
We’ve collected a list of essential .NET developer tools in our Expert Roundup. His own opinion, utility rating, and top five resources are all included in the collection. NET is a developer platform that includes tools, programming languages, and libraries for creating a wide range of applications.
A net developer is a technical specialist who works on the development, design, and implementation of software programs using. NET platform technologies. The platform supports a variety of programming languages. Many dot net developers, however, chose C# as their programming language of choice.
Let’s look at the 10+ most important tools that every.NET developer should have.
- The Best.NET Developer Tools
- Installer for the Microsoft Web Platform
- Visual Studio Web Essentials
- NuGet
- Gallery of Visual Studio
- LINQPad.NET by Novi Builder Reflector
- ReSharper
- Complete GitHub Extension for Visual Studio by ELMAH NDepend SQL
Installer for the Microsoft Web Platform
This free package management program makes it simple to get the latest Microsoft Web Platform components, such as IIS, SQL Server Express,.NET Framework, Visual Web Developer, and more. The system keeps you up to date by installing the most recent versions of each component automatically.
“I would consider the Microsoft Web Platform Installer to be a significant tool,” JD says, “primarily because the third-party community uses it (together with NuGet) to distribute products and code.”
6 out of 10 for utility.
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Visual Studio Web Essentials
This Visual Studio extension adds more powerful and useful capabilities to the core VS functionality, such as task shortcuts and better Intellisense for CSS/HTML/JavaScript, and so forth. This is a useful tool for web developers who use Visual Studio and can help them work more efficiently.
“Where else than the Web Essentials plugin for Visual Studio can you learn the fundamentals of web development?” JD says. Custom editors, a Browser Link to see changes in the browser right away, TypeScript, Less, Markdown, and CoffeeScript support are all included in one extension.”
9 out of 10 for utility
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NuGet Package Manager
NuGet is a.NET package management that lets you use third-party libraries while also allowing you to create and share your own. It is the largest database of third-party.NET components, with over 98 thousand packages now available.
“Before NuGet, obtaining components was, dare I say, medieval,” JD says.NuGet makes it easier to integrate third-party components into your Visual Studio project during design time and offers a command-line for continuous integration and delivery. It is an absolute requirement.”
10/10 for utility.
Gallery of Visual Studio
This is a helpful tool that allows you to access Visual Studio extensions, controls, and templates easily. The marketplace is integrated with the IDE, allowing you to search through over 7,000 products.
“The Visual Studio Gallery is helpful in locating the correct extension for your needs,” JD notes. Without the VS Gallery, clicking on Extensions in VS would not operate.”
10/10 for utility.
Novi Builder Novi Builder is a visual HTML editor that makes it simple to change text, graphics, links, backgrounds, and other elements. There are around 200 helpful elements that can be used to construct various pages.
“Do you believe Novi Builder is only for people who want to edit visually?” JD: “Do you think Novi Builder is only for those who want to edit visually?”Novi also includes a code editor for working with HTML, CSS, and JS code in your web projects. As you can see, one editor caters to both amateur and professional web developers.
9 out of 10 for utility
LINQPad
This is a secure environment in which you may test your LINQ queries as well as any C#/F#/Visual Basic program. The tool comes with a built-in debugger and autocomplete capability, making it ideal for prototyping with immediate feedback.
“LINQPad is Notepad for LINQ,” says JD (simple, I know). I’ve been using LINQPad for a while and consider it a must-have tool for experimenting with LINQ and testing code snippets before incorporating them into your code.”
7 out of 10 for utility
.NET Framework Reflector \s
.NET Reflector is a dot net framework decompiler and static analyzer. It can help you understand and debug your.NET code, including third-party components, even if you don’t have any documentation or comments.
“Reflector provides me with a solid understanding of what an assembly contains and what code performs when decompiled,” JD explains.
ReSharper has an 8/10 utility rating.
JetBrains has created a Visual Studio extension for this. ReSharper allows you to check the quality of your code and rapidly find and remedy errors. It also includes a number of basic and rapid refactoring and navigation shortcuts.
“Any developer who wants to be more productive when writing C# code should run, not walk,” JD recommends. I bought the Resharper Ultimate membership and I’m quite happy with it. ReSharper is included in the bundle (a code productivity tool)
dotTrace
- dotTrace is a web-based application that allows you to (a .NET Performance Profiler to optimize your code for performance)
- dotMemory is a dotMemory clone (a .NET Memory Profiler to avoid memory leaks)
- dotCover is a service that allows you to create a (a .NET unit test runner and code coverage tool)
- PeekDotPeek (a .NET decompiler and assembly browser, which is free by itself).
- These five tools are really necessary, and I use them on a daily basis.”
- The utility rating is a ten out of ten. Error Logging Modules and Handlers (ELMAH) is an acronym for Error Logging Modules and Handlers. It is a Google-provided open-source debugging and error reporting tool for ASP.NET. It definitely shines out when compared to some of the other paid.NET logging solutions available online.
“When an error happens on a production site, I utilize ELMAH to figure out what’s going on in my code,” JD says. This aids the developer in two ways: first, it records the error as soon as it occurs, and second, it removes the user from the equation (unless you have to ask them what key they pressed).
The tool is useful for determining whether you overlooked anything in your code before releasing a website into the open, but after a certain number of users, it’s usually advisable to turn it off.”
7 out of 10 for utility.
NDepend
NDepend is another Visual Studio extension for static code analysis. The tool allows you to check the quality of your code using different metrics, show its design, and correctly estimate your technical level all from within the IDE.
“NDepend is one of my favorite tools for high-level code optimization and refactoring,” JD says. It essentially gives developers a 10,000-foot view of their program and how their code is arranged, allowing them to see “the forest for the trees.” It also includes a proprietary querying language for examining the coupling of your application and determining how well you comply with standards.
SQL
- After you’ve completed all of your coding, I strongly advise you to add Ndepend to your toolkit.
- (As a side point, I also did a review of Ndepend 2017.)”
- SQLComplete has a utility rating of ten out of ten.
- SQLComplete is a productivity application that adds a number of essential capabilities to the SQL Server Management Studio, such as tab coloring, script development, navigation, and more.
“You always get your hands dirty with SQL as a full-stack developer,” JD says. This is one of the reasons I enjoy SQLComplete. This freemium utility, which plugs into SQL Server Query Analyzer and Visual Studio, is the C# equivalent of Intellisense. It offers a number of tools to help with snippets, templating, and SQL formatting, in addition to its excellent Intellisense capabilities. The best part is that it is entirely configurable.”
We must not overlook an important aspect of SQL development, which is that despite being adequately written, many programmers are unaware of how a SQL server’s architecture works, and the situation is even worse when it comes to servers. That is why we constantly advise developers who wish to commit their entire career to this industry to learn a little more about it.
GitHub Extension for Visual Studio has an 8/10 utility rating.
This addon allows you to connect your IDE to your GitHub repositories directly. This means you can use Visual Studio to build, clone, and publish your projects, as well as make and see pull requests.
“With the popularity of version control, Microsoft couldn’t ignore GitHub by not incorporating it in Visual Studio.” JD: GitHub is a must-have for engineers.”
10/10 for utility.
Bringing things to a close
Of course, it’s your decision.
The best internet tool will be determined by the task or situation at hand. Additional tools can relieve you of repetitive work and automate various operations, allowing you to improve your performance and reduce errors.
Jonathan’s ultimate.NET development toolkit is ReSharper Ultimate NDepend SQLComplete Web Essentials GitHub Extension for Visual Studio, based on his personal expertise and preferences.
