A Dozen Utilities Every .NET Programmer Needs

Lists are always subjective, but it is helpful, I think, to exchange favorites now and again. Feel free to add yours to the comments. Here’s my list in no particular order

  1. Visual Studio 2022 – goes without saying that this is the world’s best IDE for .NET developers. I’m on the preview day in and day out, and loving it.
  2. ReSharper – I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled this a dozen times, but I think they really have nailed it now, and it is an indispensable tool for C# developers
  3. Tweaks by Mads Kristensen — small but very valuable addition to VS
  4. Viasfora – I can not believe how useful this is. I’d explain what it does but you have to see it.
  5. Microsoft One Note – I use it to keep a log of everything I do, every fix for recurring issues, etc.
  6. LastPass – my password manager. I’d be lost without it.
  7. XAML Styler – if you are working in XAML this is a must-have. Does something simple, and does it right.
  8. Github Copilot – Get an idea of how AI is going to put us all out of work
  9. Solution Colors – Do you work on more than one project at a time? Another brilliant extension from Mads.
  10. Git Diff Margin – if you use Git you’ll want to Git this
  11. Beyond Compare – compare and merge files
  12. DB Browser for SQLite – If you are using SQLite, this is a must-have.

Note that nearly all of these are free (not Resharper, LastPass, Github Copilot, Beyond Compare, One Note). I do remember the days when a program like Lotus 123 cost something in the hundreds of dollars. Makes me laugh when I see people look at an app and say “$4.00, naah too expensive.”

As I say, grab these, and if there are others that you use, please note them in the comments.

Thanks

About Jesse Liberty

Jesse Liberty has three decades of experience writing and delivering software projects and is the author of 2 dozen books and a couple dozen online courses. His latest book, Building APIs with .NET will be released early in 2025. Liberty is a Senior SW Engineer for CNH and he was a Senior Technical Evangelist for Microsoft, a Distinguished Software Engineer for AT&T, a VP for Information Services for Citibank and a Software Architect for PBS. He is a Microsoft MVP.
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