Mastering Visual Studio 2022: Develop apps like a pro with advanced Visual Studio techniques using C# and .NET

Cover....1

Title Page....2

Copyright....3

Dedication....4

Foreword....5

Contributors....6

Preface....14

Part 1: Mastering Core Development Skills....20

Chapter 1: Unit Testing and Test-Driven Development (TDD)....22

Technical requirements....23

Introducing unit testing and TDD....23

The F.I.R.S.T principles of unit testing....23

TDD – unifying principles for software quality....24

AAA pattern – a structured approach to testing....27

Setting up unit testing in Visual Studio 2022....27

Creating a unit test project....28

Overview of the Test Explorer view....30

Creating a test with IntelliTest....34

IntelliTest execution and test generation....36

Saving, executing, and reviewing unit tests....37

Practicing TDD with a real-world example....38

Automating your tests with Live Unit Test....43

Configuring Live Unit Testing....44

Launching Live Unit Testing....46

Summary....49

Chapter 2: Advanced Debugging Strategies....50

Technical requirements....51

Mastering Visual Studio Debugger....51

Entering debug mode....51

Advanced debug navigation....53

Understanding debugger tools....55

Fixing bugs on the fly....59

Advanced breakpoints and data inspections....61

Understanding the types of breakpoints....61

Organizing our breakpoints....67

Inspecting the data....68

Elevating debugging with auto-decomplication and External Sources....71

Auto-decompilation....71

External Sources....72

Concurrency debugging....73

Remote debugging....77

Summary....79

Chapter 3: Advanced Code Analysis and Refactoring....80

Technical requirements....81

Understanding code analysis in Visual Studio....81

How Roslyn works....82

How does Visual Studio 2022 use Roslyn?....83

Utilizing static code analysis for quality assurance and security....84

Understanding how to use code analysis in Visual Studio....85

Adjusting the level of severity....86

Generating a .editorconfig file....89

Leveraging IntelliCode for code refactoring....92

Predicting code with whole-line autocompletion....93

Accessing GitHub documentation....94

Code metrics, maintainability, and security....96

Understanding the metrics....96

Using code metrics in Visual Studio 2022....96

Refactoring case studies....98

Handling common bad practice....99

Generating an interface....101

File-scoping our namespace....102

Summary....104

Chapter 4: Performance Optimization and Profiling....106

Technical requirements....107

Introduction to performance optimization....107

Utilizing Visual Studio profiling tools....109

Analyzing .NET asynchronous events....109

Monitoring with .NET Counters....110

Tracking .NET Object Allocation....112

Viewing the event....113

Analyzing File I/O....113

Analyzing database performance....114

Instrumenting our .NET applications....114

Analyzing CPU Usage....115

Memory profiling and optimization....121

Using the Memory Usage tools....122

Exploring Memory Usage while debugging....123

Optimizing database interactions....126

Summary....130

Part 2: Advancing Development Horizons....132

Chapter 5: Multi-Platform App UI Development....134

Technical requirements....134

An introduction to MAUI....135

The evolution of cross-platform development....135

What is MAUI?....135

The key features of MAUI....135

The architecture of MAUI....136

Exploring the tools for MAUI....137

Creating a simple MAUI app....137

XAML Live Preview....142

The Live Visual Tree....145

Debugging on devices....147

Enabling Developer Mode on our device....147

Networking device....148

Launching the debugging session....149

Migrate from Xamarin....150

Understanding the key differences....150

Using the .NET Upgrade Assistant....150

Summary....152

Chapter 6: Advanced Web Development Tools....154

Technical requirements....154

Real-time web previews powered by Web Live Preview....155

Using API Explorer and Dev Tunnel with Visual Studio....157

Generating .http files with Endpoints Explorer....157

Configuring Dev Tunnel....161

Node.js integration with Visual Studio....163

Exploring JavaScript project templates....163

Managing npm packages....165

Debugging JavaScript applications....167

Summary....169

Chapter 7: Machine Learning Integration....170

Technical requirements....171

Introduction to ML....171

Creating an ML model with ML.NET and the Model Builder UI....172

Deploying a model in an ASP.NET Core web API....177

Deploying a model in Azure Functions....180

Summary....184

Chapter 8: Advanced Cloud Integration and Services....186

Technical requirements....187

Exploring .NET Aspire....187

Exploring Azure Functions development in Visual Studio....192

Exploring Google Cloud Tools for Visual Studio 2022....196

Exploring the AWS Toolkit....201

Summary....205

Part 3: Streamlining Collaborative Development with DevOps Practices....206

Chapter 9: Handling Advanced Git Workflows....208

Technical requirements....208

Managing a repository through Visual Studio....209

Exploring the Manage Branches window....209

Looking at Checkout(-- detach)....213

Handling multiple repositories....214

Resolving conflicts through Visual Studio....216

Exploring interactive staging in Visual Studio....219

Summary....224

Chapter 10: Continuous Integration with GitHub Actions....226

Technical requirements....226

Understanding GitHub Actions for CI/CD....227

Configuring workflows in GitHub Actions....228

Generating GitHub Actions file with Visual Studio....231

Summary....235

Chapter 11: Collaborative Development with Azure DevOps....236

Technical requirements....237

Introduction to Azure DevOps....237

Setting up team projects....238

Implementing Agile development practices....240

Introducing Agile development....241

Managing Work Items through Visual Studio....242

Integrating Azure Pipelines for continuous integration....246

Summary....249

Chapter 12: Visual Studio Container Tools for Docker....250

Technical requirements....251

Introduction to Docker and Visual Studio integration....251

Setting up Docker environments in Visual Studio....252

Creating a project with Docker support....253

Adding Docker support to an existing project....254

Dockerizing applications with Visual Studio....256

Deploying containerized applications....259

Deploying in Container Registry....259

Deploying as a service in Azure....262

Summary....264

Part 4: Mastering Core Development Skills....266

Chapter 13: Writing Your Own Project Template....268

Technical requirements....269

Understanding project template structure....269

Building a basic project template....271

Customizing project templates for different workflows....274

Integrating template parameters and variables....275

Extending project templates with advanced features....281

Summary....283

Chapter 14: Writing Your Own Visual Studio Extensions....284

Technical requirements....285

Understanding Visual Studio extension architecture....285

Building your first extension....286

Advanced extension features....291

Deploying and sharing your extensions....294

Summary....295

Chapter 15: Creating and Publishing Powerful NuGet Packages for the Community....296

Technical requirements....297

Introduction to NuGet and package management....297

Creating your first NuGet package....299

Versioning and dependency management....300

Publishing and distribution....303

Advanced NuGet features....306

Target frameworks....306

Pre-release versions....307

Custom scripts....307

Summary....308

Index....310

About PACKT....320

Other Books You May Enjoy....321

Explore real-world examples, from web development to ML and MAUI, and unlock the full potential of the .NET ecosystem

Key Features

• Build robust, testable, and maintainable solutions seamlessly with Visual Studio 2022
• Master Visual Studio tools for your web, cloud, ML, and cross-platform development needs
• Learn to collaborate effortlessly and deploy continuously for enhanced productivity
• Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook

Mastering Visual Studio, one of the fastest and most comprehensive integrated development environments (IDEs), is crucial for building efficient, scalable, and modern apps. Written by a seasoned technical expert in .NET with over a decade of experience, Mastering Visual Studio 2022 helps you leverage the full capabilities of this powerful IDE.

Packed with step-by-step guidance and self-assessment tools, this book adopts a practical approach to helping you advance your Visual Studio expertise. You’ll explore complex topics such as debugging, testing, extension development, and CI/CD, and gain practical insights to enhance your skills. The book covers advanced coding analysis and refactoring techniques that will help improve code quality and maintainability. You’ll also get to grips with Visual Studio’s capabilities for multi-platform development; integrating machine learning models; and cloud development with Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. You’ll master Git workflows, conflict resolution, and DevOps practices with GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps, ensuring seamless team collaboration and efficient deployment pipelines.

By the end of this book, you’ll have become proficient in Visual Studio 2022, as well as being able to craft your own customized experience and confidently create robust, high-quality applications.

What you will learn

• Understand unit testing and apply test-driven development (TDD) within Visual Studio
• Familiarize yourself with code analysis and refactoring
• Explore web, cross-platform, machine learning, and cloud development
• Implement advanced Git workflows, CI/CD, and DevOps practices
• Containerize applications for Docker within Visual Studio
• Find out how to integrate machine learning into your project
• Tailor the IDE to your specific needs to build custom experiences

Who this book is for

This book is for experienced software developers and engineers who want to enhance their skills with Visual Studio 2022. It is particularly useful for individuals who are already familiar with .NET, especially C#. Whether you're a software architect, senior developer, or team lead, this book will help you master the intricacies of Visual Studio 2022 and take your programming abilities to the next level.