This time I want to deal with some other useful tools for ASP.NET developers that I have used on a regular basis. Again, before using for commercial purposes, please check the license information.
1. Expresso
This allows the development, analysis and testing of regular expressions. It also provides a useful library of expressions. Before pasting a regular expression into your code, you should test them. It needs free registration to use beyond the trial period.
2. NUnit
"NUnit is a unit-testing framework for all .Net languages. Initially ported from JUnit, the current production release, version 2.5, is the sixth major release of this xUnit based unit testing tool for Microsoft .NET. It is written entirely in C# and has been completely redesigned to take advantage of many .NET language features, for example custom attributes and other reflection related capabilities."
Why should you unit test? Unit testing allows you to test your code against known values and check its performance. Once written, unit tests can be run whenever required and never require a mug of coffee to keep them awake. If there is any concern about a given situation, you can set up a unit test to reproduce that scenario and check that the code behaves as expected.
The bottom line however is that a high code coverage set of unit tests allow you to sleep well at night!
3. Programmers File Editor
Programmers File Editor is a simple multi-window text editor. Virtually any editor is better than Notepad and PFE wins not just be being able to editor view more than one file at once but you can write macros in it. It also the highly unusual feature of being able to run DOS command and capture the output.
4. Component One Intellispell Community Edition
This Add-on for Visual Studio allows spell-checking of your HTML and other program files, albeit one file at a time.
5. GhostDoc
This is an Add-on for Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 (2010 is supported in the latest). It allows you to create skeleton XML documentation with just a few blanks for you to fill in.
6. Microsoft FxCop 1.36
FxCop is a Microsoft tool for static checking of compiled code. Whilst at times it just nags over trivial points, even one of the more serious problems left unfixed can cause problems in production that may not apparent during testing. For example a missing dispose can give rise to problems during intensive use of an application.
7. Microsoft Source Analysis for C# a.k.a. StyleCop
Style Cop provides a source checker for C# that complements FXCOP. Whilst some of its rules requiring extraneous blank lines are best turned off, it does provide a valuable check of source code. It fails to find xml file headers if in a region. FxCop and StyleCop are both good servants but poor masters as they will both find problems but it requires the skill of the programmer to determine if a fix is required or if the warning should be ignored.
8. Secunia Personal Software Inspector
Like Windows Update, it scans the software on your machine, but this warns not just about some windows programs but about many other programs such as Firefox and Microsoft Office.
This item is free only for personal and not commercial use.
cool