NIMTUG

Out of interest what tools are you all using in your development or work, and what do you think of them?

I'm using:

VS.Net 2003/2005 of course (standard edition)

SQL 2000/2005

Nunit http://numit.org for my unit testing. I use TestDriven.Net http://www.testdriven.net/ to integrate my unit testing into the Vs.Net IDE.

ReSharper http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/ . This is a great VS.Net add-in which makes coding must easier and faster.

CSVNT http://www.march-hare.com/cvspro/ for source control using the PushOk's CVS CSS plug-in http://www.pushok.com/soft_short_info.php

FxCop http://www.gotdotnet.com/team/fxcop/ for checking that my code conforms to the .Net guidelines.

Smart FTP http://www.smartftp.com/ 

CSE HTML Validator Pro http://www.htmlvalidator.com/ for validating my html

Top Style Pro http://www.newsgator.com/NGOLProductCatalog.aspx for editing css

Web Developer Toolbar https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/60/ this is a Firefox extension which I use for testing client side scripts. I've just today discovered the FireBug extension http://www.joehewitt.com/software/firebug/ (requires firefox to download) which is getting allot of praise so I'll be testing this out shortly.

Damien

As recommended on Scott Guthrie's blog, http://www.red-gate.com/ do a free tool SQL Prompt that provides intellisense for SQL Server.  Download from http://www.red-gate.com/products/SQL_Prompt/index.htm

Adrian

As well as using the tools above try out

• The Regulator (http://regex.osherove.com/) - Regular Expression editor
• Reflector for .NET (http://www.aisto.com/roeder/dotnet/) - Lutx Roeder's class browser. This is a must for any .Net programmer.
•  
XML Spy - XML editor, this is really expensive but it is the granddaddy of all XML editors.

I forgot about Reflector, it's a great tool. For quick editing though I use notepad2 (http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html)

Ok, this tools isn't specifically a development tool, per se, but it's great.  SlickRun is a free, floating command line utility.  It's dead easy to create your own aliases, so to launch Query Analyzer I now just type qa 

http://www.bayden.com/SlickRun/ 

Adrian

All the usual suspects plus: 

LLBLGENPro for all data-access. Couldn't live with out it. Support is excellent. Normally within a few hours. Forum monitored by lead developers and users very smart. Documentation, excellent but a little dry.

PeterBlum Validation and More for validation. A lot more comprehensive than MS admittedly poor offering. Support is very good. Normally the same day. Mailing list constantly monitored by lead developer, mail users a real mix bag. Documentation. Exceptional - Almost too much of it! 

Telerik Rad Control Suite. A good suite of GUI controls. Sometimes these controls frustrate me but they are mostly solid. Support is good. Normally the same day but can require chasing up. Forums monitored  by support and developers. Forum users a mixed bag but a lot of helpful members. Documentation excellant - a 500 page book infact.

Cheers,

Peter
 

Just throught I would add one more, it is specifically geared towards web applications but I find it very valuable; basically it replaces the need to use Visual Studios inbuilt ftp client (yes the horribly buggy one).

http://www.dispatchasp.net/

From the web site:

Dispatch is VS plugin that helps you keep track of the files that need to be uploaded - all from within the comfort of the Visual Studio IDE. Tailored for ASP.net projects, Disatch increases productivity by taking the hassle out of deployment.

Dispatch is designed for web developers that don't need a build server to deploy their projects. If you use In-Place compilation or Web Application Projects, Dispatch is ideal when it comes time to sync your changes. Stop fiddling with your FTP application and deploy intelligently with Dispatch