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Visual Studio 2017 Help Resource Available Offline

New Help Viewer option allows Microsoft books and resources for the newest VS version to be available and updated with more recent and timely information. Plus: MSDN Editor-in-Chief Michael Desmond offers his Microsoft Build insights on this week's .NET Insight Podcast.

New, Updated C++ Tooling in Visual Studio 2017, VS Code

Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio Code are a bit more C++-friendly now that tools have improved support. Plus: Windows 10 evaulation VMs are now updated and available.

Leveraging Contract Technology for Simpler Applications

If you haven’t used the .NET Framework Contract tools to help guarantee code quality, it’s worthwhile to consider integrating them into your work. If you figured that Contracts were all hype, it may be time to see how they could be genuinely useful.

Working with the Properties Window in Visual Studio's Categories View

If you prefer to keep your Properties Window in Categories View, then here's some shortcuts you might find valuable.

Update: Windows 10 Creators Update and SDK, .NET Framework 4.7, More

Platform tools get some exposure on this week's roundup of news for developers in this week's podcast. Also: Who's listening, and who should we interview next?

Code Reviews and Presentations with Visual Studio, Part 2

Last time we looked at presentation tools that you can use to show off your work to an audience or to a team. This time, we look at tools that might be more suitable for use in code review. I also share some of my experiences using these tools.

It’s Time to Reconsider Using Contracts

Coding by Contract was once the future of programming. It isn’t as popular now as it was even five years ago, at least in the .NET Framework community. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find the related tools useful.

Link Roundup: Visual Studio Code Tips on GitHub, CodePlex Shuttering, Developer Podcasts

The Visual Studio Code page on GitHub hosts a slew of tips, and CodePlex will be shutting down later this year. Bonus: Inaugural .NET Insight Podcast!

Grouping in LINQ with Methods

Peter follows up -- yet again – on a column on how to group results with LINQ using the SQL-like syntax with the same solution using the method-based syntax. And, no, you're not seeing double.

Code Reviews and Presentations with Visual Studio

Whether you're giving a presentation at a conference or working with peers on a code review, these Visual Studio tools help make you look great.

Introducing: Serverless C# with Azure Functions

Azure Functions get you beyond the traditional client/server approach to app creation, right into the cloud. Let’s first look at triggers.

Controlling Process Flow with the Template Method Pattern

If you have a process that needs to be performed -- but with variations -- then implementing the Template Method pattern will give you simpler, more extensible code. You’ll also recognize this pattern from all the times you work with it in the .NET Framework.

Getting All the Results in LINQ with Methods

Peter follows up on advice for joining collections with LINQ and getting all of the results, but this time, he uses the method-based syntax.

Adding New Formats to Old Data

The custom formatters in the .NET Framework provide a more seamless way to mix traditional and custom formatting situations.

The Focus Is on Architecting Modules in TypeScript 2.1

If you want to ensure that the right code is loaded at the right time (and only loaded when you need it), you can start organizing your TypeScript code into focused files right now.

Visual F# Tools, TypeScript: A Tale of Two Releases

The Microsoft development teams responsible for Visual F# and TypeScript recently provided their respective communities with some insight into their development efforts moving forward, now that the Visual Studio 2017 release hubbub has cleared. The goal with the insights via two recent blog posts, it seems, is toward more transparency.

C# and VB Data Conversion in a World of Cruel Users

While Visual Basic is a bit more forgiving with data conversions, you'll need to jump through some hoops to do similar conversions in C#.

Move Beyond Factory Methods with the Builder Pattern in C#/Visual Basic

When your objects get sufficiently complicated to create, it's time to simplify your life by moving to the Builder pattern. The Builder pattern is not only a great pattern for creating complicated objects, it supports your application's further evolution.

R Tools for VS Plug-In Launches

It's at 1.0, with a version supporting Visual Studio 2017 to follow some time in May.

Errors on Unused Sections in ASP.NET MVC Views

If you don't use a section in a View, then you'll get an error. But you may not find out until it's too late.

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