Visual Studio CTP 6: What's new?

Wouldn’t you just love to hand Microsoft a wishlist of your dream changes and improvements to Visual Studio? How often have you thought “if only it could…” when trying to carry out some unusual coding task?

Unsurprisingly, you’re not the only one! As impressive as Visual Studio is, playing catching up with the demands of modern technology is a game that Microsoft have to take part in constantly. For every new Visual Studio update there are many corresponding developments in the cloud, in hardware, in operating systems and in browsers. Developers constantly need new tools to write in this ever fluctuating landscape and Microsoft are constantly under pressure to release updates and improvements. Put simply, the updates can never stay relevant for long - the reason why Microsoft have released improved versions of the environment every couple of years since 1997.

Why CTP 6?

Developers who work in the Microsoft universe have good reason to be excited about the latest Visual Studio 2015 CTP (Community Technology Preview). Invited to have a look around the development environment (you can get your hands on a download here), reviewers have reported some pretty exciting updates and improvements. Since it’s still in CTP mode, it’s not surprising that it does not yet contain everything and still has some bugs. It might not tick every box on your wish list, nonetheless, the improvements give us a lot to be excited about.

That said, do you actually need to download CTP 6, or even Visual Studio 2015 (once the final version is released)? This is of course down to you and needs. Keeping abreast of changes and being aware of what’s around the corner is essential, especially in the constantly fluctuating world of tech.

For Microsoft, releasing this CTP demonstrates their openness to involving the wider community in their developments. Collecting the feedback of professionals ‘on the front line’ and having a conversation with end users to find out how the environment could be improved also helps them improve the technology in the run up to Visual Studio 2015’s final release. The full list of improvements can be found in Visual Studio’s website, but our favourite new features include the following:

 

Improved Android emulator

A real bugbear for developers has been testing their builds in Visual Studio on devices and operating systems outside of the Windows universe. Visual Studio is generally regarded as the developer’s toolkit and so being able to test builds you’ve knocked together inside Visual Studio is awesome. No longer will you have to export it to some third party cloud testing service, it’s all there in the studio.

The improvements in CTD 6 include Lollipop debug targets, support for OpenGL ES and this is reportedly pretty fast and smooth. The emulator will also include multi touch input simulation so you can try out pinching and zooming and we also have access to some advanced camera simulation capabilities. Have a go and let Microsoft know what you think!

Better credential authentication

When you’re working in the cloud it’s likely you’ll have a long list of services you use when working. Whether it’s Azure, Visual Studio Online or MSDN, going through all the necessary authentications whenever you log in can be a real pain. This should no longer be an issue in Visual Studio 2015 however, as CTP 6 lets you log into all your different accounts once you’re logged into one. This should mean many different features of Visual Studio and your cloud development work will mesh together more fluidly - something you’ll appreciate when you’ve got deadlines coming up!

CodeLens - track changes

In CTP6, Microsoft have made it easier to understand changes to your builds by using CodeLens to help you zoom in on code changes and history while you work in C++, JavaScript and SQL files stored in Git. This was previously only available in C# and Visual Basic files and will allow you to find out where changes have occurred in your build and work out how to deal with mistakes.

Find your way around with Code Maps

If you find working your way around your own codes complicated, doing so around someone else’s can be mind boggling! Fortunately, Visual Studio 2015 should make this a lot easier. Architecture menus are simplified, visibility is much simpler and display faster and there’s less clutter with code elements and dependency links receiving optional filters. This should essentially mean navigating the environment will be much easier.

How’s that wish list looking?

With all these updates, improvements and new features, Visual Studio 2015 promises to be a powerful and intuitive environment for developer. At Infragistics we love building amazing User Experiences and we reckon CTP6 will give most professionals a lot to get excited about. We’re looking forward to playing with Microsoft’s new toys and ticking some boxes off of our wish lists!