.NET "must-have" development tools

Question

James Avery wrote a classic article a while back entitled Ten Must-Have Tools Every Developer Should Download Now which is a companion to Visual Studio Add-Ins Every Developer Should Download Now and Scott Hanselman has an excellent list on his blog but if you were on a desert island and were only allowed three .NET development tools which ones would you pick?

Update: Assuming you already have an IDE like Visual Studio ...

Update (5) : Up to 08/01 : The current state of play:

• Reflector 13
• Resharper 9
• NUnit + TestDriven.Net 7
• Refactor Pro 4
• Process Explorer (other Sysinternals) 3
• SnippetCompiler 3
• CodeRush 3
• MSDN Library 2
• LinqPad 2
• Cruisecontrol.net 2
• VMWare 2
• RhinoMocks 2
• Fiddler 2
• PowerShell 2
• PowerCommands for VS 2008 1
• Sandcastle 1
• SQL Profiler 1
• Redgate ANTS profiler 11
• NCover 1
• VisualSVN 1
• Rubber Ducky 1
• WinMerge 1
• NAnt 1
• ViEmu 1
• AnkhSVN 1
• dotTrace Profiler 1
• BeyondCompare 1
• DPack VS Plugin 1
• WCF Trace Viewer (SDK) 1
• xUnit.net 1
• SourceGear DiffMerge 1
• Ghostdoc 1
• Expression Studio 1
• XAML Pad 1
• KaXaml 1
• Blender for 3D modeling 1
• Snoop a WPF tool 1
• DiffMerge 1
• DPack 1
• NDepend 1
• Kodos 1
• WatiN 1
• HTTPWatch Basic Edition 1
• Paint.Net 1
• Mole For VS 1

What I find particularly interesting about this is that "NUnit + TestDriven.Net " is right up there in third place which shows the growing emphasis on testing as an integral part of the development process rather than as an adjunct which is simply bolted on.

And I'm somewhat perplexed that Codesmith didn't receive a single vote?

Answer 1

• .NET Reflector
• NUnit
• Any decent text editor

Answer 2

Other than Microsoft tools like Visual Studio and SQL Management Studio?

1. Reflector
2. MSDN Library (Assuming no internet access on island)
3. NUnit + TestDriven.Net

Answer 3

Process Explorer from SysInternals is a must have.

Answer 4

In this order:

1. Resharper
2. Reflector
3. NUnit
4. RhinoMocks or a similar mocking framework

Answer 5

• Resharper
• Redgate ANTS profiler
• NCover

I could, if absolutely nescassary, survive without a unit testing framework, since it is possible to knock out a basic one in a couple of days, Otherwise Gallio is my 4th choice.

Answer 6

SQL Profiler, There's a free one that works for SQL Server Express as well: http://sqlprofiler.googlepages.com/

Answer 7

I'd NEED unit testing and version control or I'd swim off that deserted island.

• NUnit
• VisualSVN
• TestDriven.net

Answer 8

• Resharper
• Reflector
• Rubber Ducky

Answer 9

WinMerge

Answer 10

On the commercial side, I can't live without CodeRush and Refactor Pro!. Resharper is an excellent tool as well, but there are some things the DevExpress tools do better that, for me, outweigh the things that Resharper does better.

I'm going to stop there lest I start a heated debate.

On the free/open source side: NUnit (MbUnit is pretty groovy too) TestDriven.Net (works with NUnit, or MbUnit) I very much like PowerCommands for VS 2008 (plus the goodnesses that came with VS 2008 SP1)

If you want to produce docs, then Sandcastle is the way to go.

Answer 11

• e texteditor
• NAnt
• Reflector

Answer 12

• Reflector
• Resharper
• ViEmu
• AnkhSVN
• dotTrace Profiler
• LinqPad
• SnippetCompiler

Answer 13

I'd have to vote for:

• E-Text Editor
• Reflector
• MSDN for Documentation

Answer 14

1. BeyondCompare
2. Reflector
3. DPack VS Plugin

Answer 15

• SysInternals - Process Explorer, FileMon, RegMon
• DevExpress / Refactor Pro
• NUnit
• VMWare
• Notepad++

Answer 16

cruisecontrol.net

Answer 17

PowerShell

Answer 18

• Small Sysinternals Gem == DebugView
• CruiseControl.net
• Resharper
• Reflector
• LinqPad
• WCF Trace Viewer (SDK)

Answer 19

Other than Visual Studio 2008, I'd have to say...

.Net Reflector!

Answer 20

I've recently started xUnit.net (as opposed to NUnit) and rather like it.

Edit: also, SourceGear DiffMerge.

Answer 21

• VMWare
• Reflector

Answer 22

Resharper, Ghostdoc, SnippetCompiler

Answer 23

When it comes to .NET3.5 (WPF and Silverlight) You got plenty of more tools for the programming

1. Expression Studio(Blend for Silverlight and WPF)
2. XAML Pad
3. KaXaml http://www.kaxaml.com/
4. Blender for 3D modeling http://www.blender.org/
5. Snoop a WPF tool http://blois.us/Snoop/

And ofcourse Reflector as always

Answer 24

So the big three are:

1. Reflector
2. Resharper
3. TestDriven.Net

I won't be updating the list any longer.

Answer 25

• Resharper
• NUnit + TestDriven.Net
• RhinoMocks

Answer 26

Not technically a .net tool, a very useful too none the less, and one I have been using for years. CLCL a clipboard extender. I am also liking DiffMerge for comparing too.

Answer 27

1. devexpress tools
2. reflector
3. notepad++ for all sorts of file editing

Answer 28

Fiddler, didn't see that one.

Answer 29

CodeRush, Refactor Pro, Fiddler 2,

Answer 30

I find log4net to be pretty handy when doing work in x-tier architecture.

Answer 31

Let me cast my vote for DPack

Answer 32

NDepend is not listed?! It covers a set of unique features described here http://www.ndepend.com/Features.aspx:
- Code Query Language (CQL)
- Compare Builds
- 82 code metrics
- Manage Complexity and Dependencies
- Detect Dependency Cycles
- Harness Test Coverage Data
- Enforce Immutability and Purity
- Warnings about the health of your Build Process
- Generate custom report from your Build Process
- Diagrams

Answer 33

A lot of great tools posted so far!

When doing work with regular expressions, I find Kodos to be very useful.

Answer 34

• CodeRush and RefactorPro
• .NET Reflector
• Snippet Compiler
• PowerShell

Answer 35

• Reflector
• ReSharper
• Expresso
• Gallio (includes MbUnit)
• NBehave
• dotTrace
• GhostDoc
• Source Code Outliner
• Regionerate
• Sandcastle

I find it strange that people go for NUnit+TestDriven.net. The reason is that MbUnit is more powerful (even for simpler stuff like comparing two numbers) and the fact that ReSharper's unit testing support (e.g., the Gallio plug-in) looks good and delivers. My test framework is thus NBehave + MbUnit.

Answer 36

Paint.NET

This is a free image editing tool developed using .NET.

Answer 37

Expresso - Regular Expression Development Tool

Answer 38

Reflector - Class browser, analyzer, decompiler for .NET

Answer 39

Another regular expression development tool - Regulator

Answer 40

The Ankh SVN .NET plug-in for Subversion integration. It makes working with Subversion much nicer from within Visual Studio, and as the project progresses, it's getting more reliable and feature rich all the time.

Answer 41

Hawkeye - .NET Runtime Object Editor

Answer 42

Ruler - pixel ruler implemented in .NET

Answer 43

That list is VERY long. The best place I've found to go to find stuff is CodePlex.

My humble recommendation: Find a few hours on the weekend, get yourself a cup of coffee, get your favorite slippers on and surf the site. You may very well find yourself there all day. {-o)

Answer 44

Snippy. Quickly compile/evaluate C# code and see the output. It was created by Jon Skeet.

Answer 45

Viewstate Decoder - By Fritz Onion

Answer 46

Snoop.

Answer 47

TestDriven.Net.

Answer 48

Snippet Compiler

Answer 49

Xaml Power Toys

Answer 50

LinqPad

It's a useful tool to write and test snippets of code. It has a nice built in editor with syntax coloring and optional auto-completion. It primarily focuses on linq and database query.

Answer 51

Can't believe TortoiseSVN and Beyond Compare aren't higher up this list!

For documentation Sandcastle Help File Builder is a great companion to Sandcastle with useful assistance from GhostDoc

Answer 52

It was in an answer to my first question, "SQL to LINQ Tool": Linqer (a SQL to LINQ converter tool).

Answer 53

Or Kaxaml

Answer 54

It's got to be Reflector. It is great for decompiling assemblies and seeing how things work.

Answer 55

Nunit

Answer 56

Reflector and Nunit - bar none

Answer 57

EQATEC Profiler - You cannot overstate the value of a good profiler, and this is a definitely a good one.

Answer 58

I've always used the Regular Expression Workbench from Eric Gunnerson. Great for all your Regex needs.

Answer 59

Pinvoke.net Add-in

Answer 60

• CruiseControl.NET (executable service)

• NUnit (much better user interface than Visual Studio integrated unit testing)

Answer 61

Gemini Issue Tracker

Answer 62

Uhmm what about:

PowerShell

Here's a very interesting video from the "Java And Object Oriented" ( JAOO ) conference.

Answer 63

VisualSVN Server (Subversion Source Control for Windows & Active Directory)

Answer 64

Cropper , like Vista's snipping tool, for taking screenshots quickly. Useful for graphic design, documentation, bug reporting etc.

Answer 65

TortoiseSVN (Subversion client for Windows)

Answer 66

Keepass for managing passwords.

Answer 67

How about Process Monitor? (Along with the rest of the Sysinternals Suite)

Answer 68

TimeSnapper

Answer 69

Here's what I MUST have on every install:

• AnkhSVN 2
• NUnit
• SandCastle

Answer 70

1) Resharper

2) Reflector

3) SQL Profiler

Answer 71

Regulator is one of my favorites. Open source regular expressions editor and tester.

Answer 72

I use:

• ReShaper - Who could live without it?
• AnkhSVN - It should be a part of VS (oh, they got their own tool)
• GhostDoc - Simple and fast
• StyleCop - To keep me within borders
• FxCop - My manager complain less when he get some of it's output...

Answer 73

i have included some missing entries

1. Watin
2. Mole For WS
3. HTTPWatch
4. Paint.Net
5. IE Developer ToolBar
6. Notepad++
7. NAnt
8. Rich copy 4.0 (Microsoft)

Cheers

Ramesh Vel

Answer 74

I like to use MZ Tools for both .Net and VBA development. I don't use all of the tools in Visual Studio, but use quite a bit more of them in VBA. The VBA is free and the VS add in has a trial. I really like the private clipboard with 10 slots and use the sort code elements quite a bit.

Coincedentally, a lot of the tools I use have redundant features.

Answer 75

Some kind of versioncontrol (must have for any software development). Possible candidates: SVN, CVS, Perforce, GIT, ClearCase, VSS, ...

Answer 76

MsBuild Profiler From the project:

MSBuild Profiler is a performance measurement tool for MSBuild scripts. MSBuild Profiler shows a graphical performance output for all your MSBuild scripts, giving you a fair chance to optimize your build time.

Answer 77

All the obvious ones (Reflector, Resharper, VS & TFS Power Commands, ILMerge, etc)

Plus:

• AtomineerUtils add in for Visual Studio (for documentation comments)
• AraxisMerge (I've tried 'em all, and this is the only diff/merge that I trust)

Answer 78

1. Charles (HTTP proxy)
2. Sourcegear Diffmerge
3. TortoiseSVN (and built in Tortoise Diff)
4. Reflector
5. VisualSVN (for VS.NET integration)
6. NUnit
7. Redgate ANTS Profiler
8. Expresso
9. Firebug

What more do you need? :-)

Answer 79

I am genuinely surprised that Moq has not been mentioned yet. It is a wonderful Mocking framework that is clean, effective and guides you into the pit of success regardless of what you are doing. The later version have added Silverlight support and is highly configurable. I strongly suggest you check it out.

Another tool I have been enjoying lately is Notepad2. It is very similar to notepad++ (based on the same editor code base) which has been mentioned here numerous times. It provides syntax highlighting and most features that you would expect for an enhanced notepad (regex search, auto indentation and unicode support).

To round out the tools I would pick Gallio (with MB Unit) as a testing framework. It has a great deal of features built in and can support multiple testing libraries (NUnit, XUnit, MSTest as a start). Within the core set of tools is integration with VS and both gui and commandline test runners. MBUnit that comes with Gallio is also very handy and provides a great deal of the convenience features that help make testing a breeze.

Answer 80

Editplus - for quickly edit file

RegexBuddy - for Regex Test is useful

Answer 81

XPathMania - lets you run XPath queries on a document in VisualStudio.

Answer 82

• Resharper
• NUnit
• TeamCity

Answer 83

jQuery

Answer 84

CodeCompare. This utility supports VS file types and allows you to compare and edit data within one environment.

Answer 85

I would recommend WinDbg plus SOS.dll (which is part of the .NET framework). WinDbg+SOS is a powerful debugger for both managed and unmanaged code. It has helped me solve many, many problems that could not have been solved with VS alone.

Also, make sure to get SOSEX.dll and PSSCOR2.dll. Both are free too.

Answer 86

Have you tried to open 200kB sql file in management studio 2008 with enabled intellisence?

• Notepad++ is a must have app for various purposes.
• SQL Assistant
• SSMS Tools
• RedGate SQL Search

Answer 87

I would split this list by development target platform, otherwise it will be one huge list. For example:

• Common tools
• Web dev tools
• WPF/Silverlight dev tools
• WinForms dev tools