I tent to forget the Visual Studio 2005 shortcuts really fast when I haven’t done any real coding and just Word “coding” for a while. The shortcuts are really important as they enhance my coding experience and boost my productivity (which makes my manager happy; which increase my bonus; which makes me even happier – it’s a full circle 🙂 ).
There are a bunch of standard Windows keyboard shortcuts which I will not discuss. But do take a look, as I doubt that you know all of them. More or less all can be used in Visual Studio.
These are essential Visual Studio 2005 keyboard shortcuts for C#
Debugging |
|
F5 |
Start debug. |
Ctrl + F5 |
Start without debug. |
Shift + F5 |
Stop debug. |
F9 |
Toggle breakpoint. |
F11 |
Step into method – Executes code one statement at a time, following execution into
method calls. |
F10 |
Step over method – Executes the next line of code, but does not follow execution through
any method calls. |
Shift + F11 |
Step out of method – Executes the remaining lines of a method in which the current
execution point is located. |
IntelliSense |
|
Ctrl + Space |
List possible methods, classes etc. |
Ctrl + Shift + Space |
Displays the name, number, and type of parameters required for the specified method. |
Ctrl + J |
List members of a method. |
Ctrl + K, I |
Displays the complete declaration for the specified identifier in your code in a Quick
Info tool tip. This includes exceptions! |
Refactoring |
|
Ctrl + R, R |
Rename dialog box, which allows renaming all references for an identifier. |
Ctrl + R, O |
Displays the Reorder Parameters dialog box, which allows changes to the order of the
parameters for methods, indexers, and delegates. |
Ctrl + R, V |
Displays the dialog box, which allows removal of parameters from methods, indexers,
or delegates by changing the declaration at any locations where the member is called. |
Editing |
|
Ctrl + M, O |
Collapses existing regions to provide a high-level view of the types and members in
the source file. |
Ctrl + M, L |
Toggles all previously collapsed outlining regions between collapsed and expanded
states. |
Ctrl + M, M |
Toggles the currently selected collapsed region between the collapsed and expanded
state. |
Ctrl + K, C |
Inserts comments marking at the beginning of the current line or every line of the
current selection. This also works in HTML and XML files. |
Ctrl + K, U |
Removes the comments marking at the beginning of the current line or every line of
the current selection. This also works in HTML and XML files. |
Ctrl + K, D |
Formats the current document according to the indentation and code formatting settings
specified. This also works in HTML and XML files. |
Ctrl + K, X |
Displays the Code Snippet Picker. The selected code snippet will be inserted at the
cursor position. |
Ctrl + K, S |
Displays the Code Snippet Picker. The selected code snippet will be wrapped around
the selected text. |
Ctrl + Shift + V |
Pastes text from the Clipboard ring to the cursor location in the file. Subsequent
use of the shortcut key iterates through the items in the Clipboard ring. |
There are loads of other Visual Studio 2005 keyboard shortcuts for C# – you should check out this Microsoft poster or this complete list.
You can setup your own keyboard shortcuts under Tools | Options | Keyboard. The interface for setting up keyboard shortcuts sucks, but it is doable.
Keyboard shortcuts are not the only means of improving your productivity. Visual Studio snippets are a timesaver. They work by entering a snippet shortcut key and the pressing tab twice. Like “class + tab + tab”, then a class stub is created for you.
class |
Class stub |
cw |
Console.WriteLne |
enum |
Enum stub |
exception |
Exception class stub |
prop |
Property stub with getter and setter |
propg |
Property stub with getter only |
#region |
Code region stub |
try |
Try/Catch block |
tryf |
Try/Finally block |
The snippet I love the most is exception – this snippet generates complete exception class in accordance with Microsoft guidelines. I used to hate implementing custom exceptions because it was so cumbersome.
You can see all the default snippets under Tools | Code Snippets Manager or keyboard shortcut Ctrl K, B ;-). You can also implement your own or do as I do; Google it.
You shouldn’t memorize all shortcuts, but adopt those which make your everyday life easier. You should however, every ones in a while think of expanding your arsenal of shortcut.
Have I missed any really important keyboard shortcuts or snippets? What are your favorite keyboard shortcuts and snippets? Let me know – I am expanding my arsenal 😀