Can anyone recommend any good add-ons or plugins for Microsoft Visual Studio?
Freebies are preferred, but if it is worth the cost then that's fine.
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Resharper. It's the best productivity tool for any software engineer! TestDriven.Net is pretty good too. and GhostDoc.
Spell Checker for comments is a godsend. GhostDoc is great for making well documented APIs.
My favorite would be the one I work on - Goanna. :)
C/C++ static analysis - it helps find bugs.
If vi/vim editing is your thang:
If you want color-coded control-flow syntax-highlighting and graphical outlines:
I'm the developer of these commercial tools.
Try MetalScroll!! It's better than Rockscroll
from the website: Latest version supports:
and others, so try it now!
I like ReSharper, too! It's affordable if you're a student or otherwise connected to an university.
For interaction with SVN I'll prefer AnkhSVN.
.. and of course for connecting to TeamFoundation Server there's the Visual Studio Team Explorer
If you use SVN for source control, definitely get VisualSVN. It enables TortoiseSVN interactions from within the Visual Studio IDE.
I also echo the Resharper comment. Retail price is a little steep, but if you're a student or otherwise educationally affiliated, it's actually pretty cheap.
Source Monitor code analysis tool
Maintains your clipboard data through removal of lines, a few other nice items but that one alone makes me happy.
While some have problems with regions I think if you use them, this tool is for you. Automatically region'izes your code into appropriate region blocks. Fully configurable for custom items etc.
A lot of the mentioned Addins are used by me on a regular basis. Here are just a few I I estimate, too:
All three are free and highly recommended (by me).
If you are looking for a better code editor, vim comes with VisVim, a plugin to replace the VS code editor with vim.
one that I wrote http://www.codeplex.com/lazy
Build Version Increment (GPL) gives you (nearly) everything you need for controlling the version of your assemblies.
Some Features (copied from the site):
For the laptop bound or for those with vi/vim key bindings burned into the brain I would recommend ViEmu.
If you have not tried editing with vi key bindings here is why you may want to try "Why, oh WHY, do those #?@! nutheads use vi?"
http://trolltech.com/products/qt/">Qt Cross-Platform Application Framework
Qt is a cross-platform application framework for desktop and embedded development. It includes an intuitive API and a rich C++ class library, integrated tools for GUI development and internationalization, and support for Java™ and C++ development
They have a plug-in for Visual Studio that costs a bit of money, but it is worth every penny.
If you're doing C++ coding, hands down Visual Assist.
PowerCommands is a Microsoft-created plugin that offers a variety of new features that one would think probably should have been in Visual Studio in the first place.
These include
MZTools is great too.
Here is my list:
Consolas font Free font from MS designed for reading code.
Code Style Enforcer Lets you define a .NET code style (with some degree of flexibility) and underlines violations. Has context-menu options to change the code to match the style. Requires DXCore, which is linked from the Code Style Enforcer page. Both are free.
JustDecompile from telerik. Now that Reflector is no longer free. Its a necessity when digging through supplied libraries.
I found this site called Visual Studio Gallery - it has a lot of visual studio add-ins. I'm browsing it right now and I recommend everyone to visit it.
Visual Assist: you cannot live without it!
Sonic File Finder for when you have loads of files in your solutions and searching for them in the solution explorer becomes a pain in the wrist.
You might also find DPack interesting. Several tools and enhancements rolled into one neat package.
Here a few I didn't find (or spot) mentioned:
Someone mentioned SQL Prompt so I'll add SQL Assistant (similar price, but does a lot more)
Very few people mentioned DPack which is free and absolutely awesome.
Also, really get ReSharper or something similar (it will pay many times over). Bare VS just does not "compare" ;-)
Enjoy your coding!
I'm always amazed that more people don't know about/use NDepend - it shows all dependencies at every level of your code, and will even draw pretty box and arrow pictures showing how confused your architecture really is :) Together with TestDriven.Net, I can't imagine working without it any more. Free/cheap.
definetly +1 for VisualAssistX (cannot work without it anymore & it's worth all the money) and +1 for VisualSVN
I find Ghost Doc to be very useful.
GhostDoc is a free add-in for Visual Studio that automatically generates XML documentation comments for C#. Either by using existing documentation inherited from base classes or implemented interfaces, or by deducing comments from name and type of e.g. methods, properties or parameters.
I 2nd VisualAssist, been using it since V6, can't live without it...
I see no one has mentiond CoolCommands: http://geekswithblogs.net/brians/archive/2007/03/04/107922.aspx
Great set of time savers...
XPathmania is a good little tool for writing and testing XPath queries.
I just found this rather large list of addins:
http://geekswithblogs.net/brians/archive/2008/05/12/122087.aspx
VLINQ LINQPad is essential, but for quick stuff inside VS, VLINQ is great.
+1 Visual Assist.
It's unfortunate that you need a plugin to get really good intellisense but it's definitely worth paying for.
KingsTools is also a nice collection of macros containing:
While Visual SVN costs $50 or so, I strongly prefer it over AnkhSVN (which I last tried about a year ago - it may have improved since).
It's one of the easiest to sell to your boss if funding is an issue. (Thankfully we don't have to scratch and claw to get good tools where I work.)
LinqPad is great for testing linq to objects/xml/sql. Free download.
For C# development I use:
In addition to these, I also have a couple of DSL graphical designers for the particularly difficult scenarios - for example, I have a DSL for complex multithreaded operations that are implemented using Pulse & Wait.
I love CopySourceAsToHTML as a cool little addin. It's great if you want to copy code blocks for blogging and the like while maintaining your syntax formatting.
I think this is still the url.. you have to do some manual work to set it up with 08. http://www.jtleigh.com/people/colin/software/CopySourceAsHtml/
Guidance packages integrate into VS as Snippets, projects, and project templates. They provide a way to collect and reuse patterns, code, and How To answers. You can create guidance for your team and you can download the guidance packages coming out of the Patterns and Practices group at MS.
Dispatch for FTP is what Copy Web Site should have been.
This just came out but I like it a lot: Mindscape File Explorer
VisualSVN is excellent for SVN integration. Much better than Ankh (have not tried Ankh 2+ though)
SonicFileFinder for looking up files or classes quickly. Supports searching just the upper case parts of a camel-cased type name
Web Deployment Projects by Microsoft for precompiling web site projects
VS Command Shell Command shell in the Output pane. Far from perfect, but often very, very useful. Faster and easier to get to than a separate cmd and has easier copy/paste support.
vi/vim support inside VS
Definitely Resharper.
GhostDoc (Takes away any excuse for not having comments in your code)
PowerCommands for VS 2008 (Forgot I even had this installed because it just adds a the little things that should have been there all along)
AtomineerUtils Pro Documentation - automatic DocXml/Doxygen/JavaDoc/Qt doc-comment generation/updating (similar to GhostDoc, but more powerful & flexible, and supports C#, C++, C++/CLI, C, Java and Visual Basic code).
The style of the generated comments is very configurable, and automatic re-formatting (such as whitespace control and word wrapping) can be optionally applied to keep the comments as readable as possible. It also has many helpers to allow users to read and convert most legacy doc-comments into any of the above formats.
(I'm the author, but I believe the above is an accurate and objective description. This add-in was free when this answer was first added, but to cover the costs of hosting, supporting, and continuing to improve the addin in monthly releases, it is now $10 with a 30-day free trial)
What about IncrediBuild? This is a nice distributed build system with visual studio integration.
+1 for VisualSVN being better than AnkhSVN, having tried both, and +1 for the FogBugz Add-in.
Whole Tomato's Visual Assist X. I absolutely swear by it. I would like to see a better plug in for Lint than Visual Lint by Riverblade, but since that will eventually be moved onto the build server I don't mind running it every couple of days manually.
In addition to the refactoring and source control tools listed here, AQTime is a great windows profiler. It can run as a plugin or stand-alone and it works with .NET and native code.
Quick Open File is a plugin that, coming from an Eclipse background, I can't live without
No more digging through the solution explorer trying to find files
+1 for CodeRush & Refactor Pro. I've been using CodeRush since its Delphi incarnations, and it's utterly wonderful. The mantra of "Code at the speed of thought" is very close to reality ;)
RockScroll is awesome, and free.
Addendum
As @Andrei points out, MetalScroll is a better alternative. It's Open Source, and corrects some annoying things about RS.
I don't fancy the Visual Studio bookmarks so I use DPACK to get the same kind of bookmarks as the Delph IDE provides.
TracExplorer is cool for integrating Trac with VS.
We've covered this on this question: What is your favorite Visual Studio add-in/setting?
DevExtra - but I'm biased cause I wrote it :)
http://www.toptensoftware.com/devextra/
It's a bit old now (has its origins in VC6) and mostly oriented towards C++ developers but its free and I still use it every day.
+1 for Visual Assist And I will add VLH (Visual Local History) which provides a kind of local source control system. Every time you save a file, the plugin add a copy in the local repository.
I use a lot the Fogbguz plug in but well you need to use Fogbugz first !!!
GhostDoc is a free add-in for Visual Studio that automatically generates XML documentation comments for C#. Either by using existing documentation inherited from base classes or implemented interfaces, or by deducing comments from name and type of e.g. methods, properties or parameters.
Not really an addon inside VS, but one every VS use needs: Code Preview Handler Provides a preview handler with syntax highlighting for source files. The handler works in the Explorer preview pane and in the preview tab for attachments in Outlook.
I've been using Visual Assist X for nearly two years now, and I find it so useful I can honestly say that if my employer didn't provide it, I'd have to pay for it myself.
I also use Cool Commands and SlickEdit (the free version), whose File Explorer and Command Spy tools are quite useful.
Not free, but ReSharper is definitely one recommendation.
It's not a Visual Studio add in, but it is a tool that I couldn't use Visual Studio without it...
ClipX - it's works with the normal clipboard, but saves the entries to a searchable list, you can use copy and paste as ususal, but you can hit CTRL+SHIFT+V and the list pops up. It works with images, text, etc. It even persists after you reboot your computer.
Source Code Outliner Nice alternate view of your source files. It's the outliner from the code pane, but without all the code getting in the way of the structure.
I'm a big fan of CodeRush and Refactor! Pro by DevExpress. I've been using them for a number of years, and without a doubt it makes me a faster developer. Also, both are built on a free framework called DXCore that allows you to develop your own plug-ins for Visual Studio, and the sky is the limit there...
PInvoke.NET addon Menu to search for pre-written P/Invoke code. Much easier than working out the marshalling code yourself, especially when there are nasty unions and alignment requirements.
I found Code Rocket to be very useful - http://www.getcoderocket.com/
From their website: "Code Rocket is an innovative tool that reveals the inner workings of C#, ... and C/C++ code, for Visual Studio... It makes documentation a seamlessly integrated part of the software development process, plugging directly into your development IDE with minimal overheads, delivering powerful benefits from day one."
Source: Stackoverflow.com