Chapter 2 Working with Visual Studio 2022
When we look at the table data after the UPDATE statement (Figure 2-74), you will see that the table has been updated to display the correct priceCategory values for the items in the table.
Figure 2-74. Table updated
While running SQL statements isn’t mind-blowing, it is very convenient to be able to do all this without ever leaving Visual Studio. The Server Explorer offers much more functionality than illustrated in this chapter. Dig around it a bit more and see what the Server Explorer can do for your productivity.
Visual Studio Windows
I have often maintained that developers get stuck in a rut when working with Visual Studio. They tend to stick to what they know and keep doing things that way until the cows come home.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but developers might miss out on some of the excellent tools and features that Visual Studio provides. In this section, I want to briefly discuss two items found under the View Other Windows menu, as seen in Figure 2-75.
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Figure 2-75. Other Windows in Visual Studio
There are too many windows to discuss in this chapter, but I will touch on two that I find very useful.
C# Interactive
How often have you wanted to test a tiny bit of code to see if it works correctly? Well, with C# Interactive, you can do just that without having to debug your entire solution. Found toward the bottom of the View Other Windows menu, C# Interactive is almost hidden. But gems usually are, and you’ll love using it if you don’t already.
Click C# Interactive and paste the following code in Listing 2-30. After pasting the code into C# Interactive, hit the Enter key to run the code.
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Listing 2-30. Running a LINQ Query
var numList = new List<int>() { 153, 114, 116, 213, 619, 18, 176, 317, 212, 510 };
var numResults = numList.Where(x => x > 315); foreach(var num in numResults)
{
Console.WriteLine(num);
}
The results are displayed below the code you pasted. Your C# Interactive window should now appear as illustrated in Figure 2-76.
Figure 2-76. C# Interactive code results
C# Interactive is what we refer to as a REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop). Being able to input expressions that are evaluated and having the results returned makes on-the-spot debugging possible in Visual Studio.
C# Interactive supports IntelliSense, so you get the same kind of editor experience as in Visual Studio. For a list of available keyboard shortcuts, REPL commands, and Script directives that C# Interactive supports, just type in #help and press the Enter key.
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