Recently I got to experience what it's like to have an article you wrote published on the front page of a magazine. It's something I've never tried before now, and I'm grateful to ASP.NET Pro for publishing it and making it the covery story. This is in the November 2008 edition that features my article (http://www.aspnetpro.com/features/2008/11/asp200811bm_f/asp200811bm_f.asp) and a book review (available here: http://www.aspnetpro.com/bookreviews/9780672329678_b/9780672329678_b.asp).
You need to have a subscription to log into the web version, or find it in the print version if you have it. If you check it out, post a comment on what you think about it (both good and bad are welcome).
The tool Resharper has some nice validation features I wanted to talk about. Like Visual Studio, Resharper monitors your keystrokes, looking for errors as you type. One of the nice features I like about Resharper is its ability to identify errors in code. When it does, it highlights the text red. For instance, suppose you had in a method:
int x1 = 0;
x1 = xParam;
if (x1 > 0)
return x1;
else
return 0;
If, in this method, you changed "x1" to be "x" in the variable declaration, Resharper parses the method, finding every instance of "x1" and highlighting it red. Another feature it also provides is comment detetion for method parameters. Suppose you had this:
/// <summary>
/// Gets the underlying core value from the control.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="control">The control to evaluate.</param>
/// <returns>The object stored in the underlying value.</returns>
public abstract object GetValue(Control control);
If you changed "control" to be "controlInstance", Resharper caches this too and marks it red. Resharper also parses throwing exceptions; the ArgumentException and ArgumentNullException classes define the name of the parameter in error; Resharper parses this to ensure you define a correct value.
Lastly, Resharper parses your config file, ensuring the references you add (such as to the <pages><controls> reference collection) are correct, and will mark it red if not.