Is ReSharper worth the adjustment, is there a good tutorial for 4?

Question

I was watching a couple of episodes of dnr.tv and was given my first glimpse of ReSharper, I was very impressed so I decided to give it a try, fully aware that it'd take some getting used to, but is it worth depending on this dependency? Also I learn best by following tutorials first then experimenting, is there a good tutorial for ReSharper 4 that I've missed on my googling?

Info gathered from answers So far I'd already found these, but they might be useful for others

Useful links

http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/documentation/index.html

Note: I'm pretty sure this is not written about the latest version of reSharper, so I can't be sure how much of this transfers over to using 4.0 http://blog.excastle.com/2007/01/31/blog-event-the-31-days-of-resharper/

Answer 1

I think it's completely worth it. Best .NET tool by far.

Have you checked out all of the official videos? http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/documentation/index.html

Answer 2

In my opinion resharper has never been worth the investment for me. One I become too reliant on the "magic" it performs. Two I use a ton of different IDE's for different projects, everything from Notepad to Eclipse to Visual Studio, so I have never really seen the need for these kind of tools.

Answer 3

Definately the best tool I have ever used.

It is the natural progression of the industry that the tools improve. It's not 'magic'! It's just like a JCB digger instead of a shovel. I can go dig a hole manually with a shovel if I have to - but it hurts!

Answer 4

It's an excellent tool, you become dependant on it to an extent, it feels like you've travelled back to the 19th century if you have to use Visual Studio without it.

There's a series of articles on Joe White's blog called '31 days of Resharper' where he explores various features:

http://blog.excastle.com/2007/01/31/blog-event-the-31-days-of-resharper/

Answer 5

It is a fantastic tool. I agree with Nick that it can be a crutch, but if a tool helps me write good, clean code, faster, I'm not sadistic enough to not use it! It makes file management simple, helps me to think the OO way, and keeps my hands on the keyboard.

I prefer it over CodeRush/Refactor Pro because it is more discoverable... that is, you can learn the keyboard shortcuts and available options because it provides a Menu system instead of a multi-page options/profile screen like CodeRush.

CodeRush/Refactor and Resharper are both like crack... use at your own risk.

And for the MSSQL side, don't forget to try Red Gate' SQL Prompt.

Answer 6

Saying that its a bad tool because you become reliant on it seems a little odd. That's what good tools should do.

Q: Should I program in .NET or assembly?

A: Assembly, .NET is like a crutch - once you start doing it, you forget all about CPU registers.

Answer 7

Watching JP Boodhoo writing code using Resharper is an amazing thing. If I were 10% as productive as he is on those dnrtv episodes, I'd be very happy.

My favorite part is the extensible templates which can be used to create parameterized boilerplate code instantly.

Answer 8

Maybe it's just me, but I think Resharper is bloated and slow. When I'm running it, everything on either of my two machines slows to a crawl. I probably haven't used the features enough to get past this but the waiting isn't worth the trouble.

Answer 9

The 31 days thing is still pretty relevant. Version 4 was about shipping support for new language features like LINQ, Lambda expressions, extension methods and all the good things in C#3/VB9.

I've been using R# since it was released and VS just feels all wrong and naked without it. I've only really scratched the surface of it's many capabilities but the ones I do use are well worth the money, hell even the {} bracket completion was worth parting cash for.

I gave CodeRush/Refactor Pro a test drive but I personally found it just a bit too intruding for my eyes with all its animations and eye popping flare, but that said it's also very slick.

One of the things I do like about the JetBrains crew is that when you raise a defect on their bug tracker they act on it pretty quickly and you can often see the fix come through on the nightly build as little as 24-48hrs later.

Answer 10

Resharper is excellent. Personally I prefer CodeRush with Refactor Pro! from DevExpress. They have recently posted some really excellent training videos for these tools. Watching Mark Miller (the Millahnator) coding on dnrTV with CodeRush is head-spinning. CodeRush's templating system rocks and I love the visual feedback in the GUI. I agree that discoverability is a challenge, but as with any tool, I have made the commitment to myself to learn it to its fullest extent. This means spending time regularly looking at the features it offers and looking for ways to integrate them into my personal workflow.

Answer 11

When you have written the first Repository class in your system just to your liking, and you smash down Ctrl+Shift+R, and choose extract interface, you understand why ReSharper is the good stuff.

Or When you need a field variable. Instead of leaving your place in the code to declare it, just instance it where you need it, and Alt+Enter+Introduce Field, and you're done.. :D

ReSharper is good when it comes to helping you write good code, but it is excellent when you need to refactor older code.

So yes. It is worth it. You just need to adjust for a couple of weeks while you get learn the fundamentals :)

Answer 12

Resharper is such a help that I bought my copy by myself since work wouldn't pay for it. The other members on my team got to see me use it and decided that it was really needed. Their desire to have it after seeing what it did for me was enough to get work to pay for copies for all of us. Luckily for me it was after 4 came out so I got the upgrade to 4 without having to pay for it myself this time. I would have gladly done it though.

Answer 13

It's the one true tool that once you've used you find you can't write code without. James Kovacs has a blog post series on it that includes screencasts of the action.

Becoming a Jedi Screencast Series

Answer 14

Resharper v3 and earlier used to bog my machine down and I frequently got out of memory errors. Resharper v4 (at least so far in the last month) has been much much better. I use it mainly for code completion and cleanup, but learn about some hidden function I've never seen before every week. I love the refactoring and the code generation too. My suggestion is to print out the default keymap and post it on your wall: link text

Answer 15

The Resharper Cheatsheet is invaluable when learning all the shortcuts:

Resharper4 Cheatsheet

Answer 16

For me, ReSharper is an essential add-on to VS. The main advantages it provides me are...

• It actually helps me to write better and cleaner code. All the little recommended code practices that many programmers forget to do are highlighted and hard to miss. We have formalised a list of the ReSharper recommendations that we will follow, and this now forms the first line of our code review process.
• It effectively compiles the code as I type giving instant problem highlighting. In everyday use, this is by far the most useful feature for me.

As many people have said here, you do become dependent on it, but in my opinion that’s no different than becoming dependant on VS itself. Simply, they both represent progress for IDEs. If all of ReSharper’s features came built into VS then I doubt many people would disable them.

Because it is actually a separate application there seems to be a common problem with performance and reliability. I admit this used to be a problem for us too, but following the release of version 4.0 – combined with a good spec development machine (3-4 mb RAM at least) – our experience of ReSharper results in nothing less that wholehearted recommendation.

Answer 17

I found Resharper a bit too slow for my tastes and ended up with CodeRush/Refactor.

I would recommend diving deeper into what Visual Studio can do out of the box as well. For example, some don't realize you can type 'for {tab} {tab}' and VS will generate a for loop.

Sara Ford has a lot of VS tips/tricks on her blog.