Seems totally backward to me that such an excellent IDE would hide line numbers by default. This seems like an obvious oversight, or poor default.
Which means I'm missing something - because in the VS dev team vs Me, I know who has more experience.
So what am I missing? Why would I -not- need to see line numbers in code?
Visual studio allow many ways of seeing your code. You can use the searches and drop downs for example. Line numbers may not mean anything to you if you have many named small functions for example. So though I like them its not really an issue is it?
Its a user preference thing , there is no right or wrong way just create a customs settings file that has it turned on so that you don't have to remember to set it every time (Though i am sure this is only ever done once in a while since you rarely re install VS)
A far as I am concerned line numbers are just more screen clutter - I don't see any point in them.
What do you want them for? You're not programming in some 1980s version of BASIC are you?
The only time I'm interested in line numbers is when I've given a specific one (e.g. in a stack trace). At that point I want to go to that particular line (which I can do directly) but I don't need to see the surrounding line numbers.
I value the contents of my screen, and line numbers would just be wasting it for me.
I think the bigger question is to ask yourself why you would want to see line numbers. Why are they important to you? In what situations do you need to see all the line numbers for the current page, rather than just the current line (which is displayed in the status bar)?
Line numbers can be of use for one and pain on the screen for another. And all they can help for: quick access to the exact line mentioned in exception stack log and easy way to implement changes introduced by code review.
Anyway, even if there are more usages, there are even more developers who do not use them. And that's a concern of VS developers: they give us means, but they don't switch them all on by default.
Line numbers are essential when pair programming. When two people are working together, it is very helpful to say something to the effect of "There is an issue on line 35"
Given that there has to be a default, then the most common preference would be the obvious one, and that would be 'off' by default.
Although I could easily do without them, personally I like line numbers because I tend to a) Orientate myself in a code file using them, b) Use them when talking to fellow programmers about code as the quickest way to get them to a specific line of code we're discussing and c) To give a whiff of code smell and remind me of how large a particular code file is getting that I am working on.
What does it matter, as long as there is an option to show or hide them?
My preference is to turn them off - I think they are usually a waste of valuable screen space. You can see which line you're on in the status bar, and you can goto (ctrl+G) any line. But there are times when they can be useful.