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BUILD 2015 news: Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio 2015 RC, Team Foundation Server 2015 RC, Visual Studio 2013 Update 5

The Microsoft BUILD conference is the moment of release of new tools for developers and announcements. And without a doubt, this year we have surpassed ourselves. In this post, we would like to tell you about the main updates that we have released, but do not forget to also look at the announcements that are published in the blogs of Scott Guthrie , Terry Mierson , Somasegar and Brian Harry . If you prefer to watch the video, we also published a video of the main announcements . The main news and summary of this material - we have released Visual Studio 2015 Release Candidate (RC) , .NET Framework 4.6 , Team Foundation Server 2015 RC , and Visual Studio 2013 Update 5 RC, as well as a preliminary version of the new tool running on MacOS, Linux and Windows - Visual Studio Code . Right now you can start downloading while reading this post.

Visual Studio 2015 RC


Visual Studio 2015 has included a lot of great innovations ranging from improvements in the code editor (hint bulbs, CodeLens and code maps) and improvements related to authentication. Let's start with what you asked us for, an improved version of the VS SDK for VS 2015.

Creating extensions for VS 2015. With this release, the VS 2015 SDK is now available for download. We improved some aspects of creating extensions for Visual Studio, in particular, we created NuGet packages for Visual Studio SDK assemblies, and thus you can reference these assemblies using NuGet. We also removed the need to use an assistant when creating a project or expanding the functions of your add-on; now it is enough to add a new element from the list of available templates. Additional information is published on the VS Extensibility Dev Center website, also look at the examples of extensions and SDK documentation .

Debugger enhancements. Visual Studio 2015 includes a number of improvements that you most often asked us for, in particular, debugging lambda expressions , improvements in Edit & Continue functions , debugging of child processes , as well as reworked familiar tools such as configuration of breakpoints and configuration window of exceptions (Exceptions ) . We also included in the Visual Studio 2015 excellent performance analysis tools PerfTips and Memory Usage tool as well as the redesigned IntelliTrace toolkit .
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.NET Framework 4.6: cross-platform support and a new JIT. An announcement was made in the autumn, which we are happy to present as a fait accompli: .NET is now available on Linux and MacOS operating systems. At the same time, we are continuing to work on changes in the framework that will allow us to achieve greater cross-platform (for example, the function of converting DateTime to Unix time). But of course, this is not all, we also included in the release a new version of the 64-bit JIT compiler, in which there are performance improvements compared to the previous version. For more information, please refer to the .NET Framework 4.6 release notes and roll-up post .NET blog .

Authentication using corporate accounts in addition to MSA. In Visual Studio 2015, we have improved the experience with authentication at startup environment . A notable innovation was the ability to use corporate accounts in addition to Microsoft accounts, now you can use your email to identify, and easily manage these accounts for authentication with Visual Studio Online and Azure.



Improved update notification mechanism . In Visual Studio 2013, for the first time, we turned on the notification mechanism through Notifications Hub in order to simplify the ability to quickly update the environment and its components. In addition to this, in VS 2015 RC, we added a new type of notification, Learn more about a recent Visual Studio crash , which allows you to fix any problems if the community has already encountered them. Notifications now contain brief information, type, and the ability to group.

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New Dialog Add Connected Services. We redesigned the mechanism for adding services using the Add Connected Services dialog (in the References context menu of the window) to make it easier and more efficient. In addition to this, the ability to extend the functions of this dialog using the Connected Services SDK has also been added. Using this dialog, you can add the following types of services:



Additional services can be added to this dialog box using the Extensions and Updates mechanism.



Editor improvements. We continue to work on one of the most important parts of Visual Studio, the code editor. Now you have the opportunity to see hints in the form of light bulbs and correct common errors with one click. The new functions of the Error List window allow you to more quickly fix the errors found in your code and apply recommendations for correcting your code after analyzing it.


CodeLens. The key innovation that touched CodeLens technology is the ability to use this feature not only in the maximum edition of Visual Studio but also in the younger edition. Now you can include CodeLens tips in VS 2015 Professional as well as in Visual Studio Online . In addition to this, we added file level indicators for C ++, JavaScript, SQL, XAML, HTML, and CSS. You can learn more about these features from the CodeLens availability note for C ++ JavaScript and SQL files .



Code Map. We have improved the mechanisms for how code maps show current information and simplified zoom and navigation through the code map. In addition to this, you can see unit test projects on the code maps, and they will be highlighted by a separate type. More detailed information you can get from the note on this link: detailed post on the latest changes in Code Map .



Visual Studio Tools for Apache Cordova. Using Tools for Apache Cordova, you can create, debug, and test cross-platform applications for Android, iOS, Windows, and Windows Phone, all from a single Visual Studio project. In this release, we expanded the list of supported devices and OS versions, including Android 4.4, Android 4.3 and earlier with jsHybugger, iOS 6, 7, and 8, and of course Windows Store 8.1. For more information, please refer to Visual Studio Tools for Apache Cordova .


Visual Studio Tools for Universal Windows App Development. We integrated the tools for creating universal Windows applications directly into the Visual Studio installer. This toolkit allows you to create, update, build, deploy and debug universal Windows applications for all devices, including familiar Windows computers, phones based on Windows Phone, and Xbox. In addition to this, you can create desktop applications that will have access to the Windows 10 API. (Note: the current release is not suitable for creating release, ready-to-use applications with the Windows 10 target platform). You can install these tools during the installation of Visual Studio 2015 by selecting the custom mode (Custom), and then ticking “Universal Windows Development Tools.” For more information, see the Windows Universal Application Guide and Windows Insider portal.

C ++ language and environment improvements. One of the constant requests from our users is to improve support for C ++ standards. In this release, we continue to embed the capabilities of the C ++ 11, C ++ 14, and even C ++ 17 standards into the compiler in order to make your work simpler, leading to elegant and compatible code. Some of these new features include: resumable functions (resume / await), generic (polymorphic) lambda expressions, decltype (auto), thread-safe "magic" statics and return type deduction. In addition to this, and realizing the importance of supporting access to various platforms and functionality, we have included improvements in the development of cross-platform C ++ applications. You can use Visual Studio 2015 to generate dynamic and static libraries, native binary applications and Xamarin applications for the Android platform. We also included experimental support for creating iOS applications right in the Visual Studio 2015 environment. Now you can create C ++ code for the iOS platform using all the convenience of IntelliSense, refactoring, and other great editor features. Work on the support of the iOS platform is still underway and soon we will tell about it in more detail.



If you are interested in this type of development, be sure to look at the report “Building Multi-Device Applications in C ++ with Visual Studio 2015”. To learn more about C / C ++, visit the Visual C ++ team blog . Detailed information about the updates published in Visual C ++ release notes section .

Improved support for high DPI screens. We are continuing to work on making Visual Studio convenient to use on high-resolution screens. For example, we added a special service that manages all the icons for different types of screen resolutions and with different zoom levels.


Team Foundation Server 2015 RC


Along with the release of the preliminary version of TFS 2015 CTP, we expanded the licensing rules by including web testing, flexible project portfolio management, query-based graphing and command rooms in the basic license. This means that all teams of up to five people can use Team Web Access opportunities for free, and for large teams these opportunities will be cheaper. In addition to licensing changes in TFS 2015 also included:

Policies - Gated Build and Code Review. If you are working on a project that uses Git as its version control system, you can create brunch policies that require a successful build of the project before putting changes into this brunch. Similarly, you can require mandatory code approval before placing it in the brunch using the Code Review. Using policies, you can assign a minimum number of approvers, a specific approver for certain types of files or a path in the version control system.
Quick code editing. If you need to quickly edit the code now you can use your web browser and put the changes directly into the source code repository. In this case, you will have the opportunity to compare changes using the diff view window. If the file is a Markdown or HTML file, you can preview it.

Kanban Board. A new feature that we added to Kanban boards is called Kanban Split Columns . In order to track your work more efficiently, each column of your board can be divided into two sub-columns: Doing and Done. In the process of transferring tasks on your board from one column to another, it is critical that your team understands the term Done. In this release, we added the ability to specify a definition of done for each column on your board.
Many will note that in RC, the cards have undergone some changes in appearance. They have become wider and have a white solid fill (before that they were colored). These changes are associated with deeper work on the inclusion of card customization, including additional fields and tags. While these settings are not available for RC, but soon they will appear with the next update. Additional information on working with Kanban boards in TFS. .
More details about all the changes and updates can be found in the Team Foundation Server 2015 RC Release Notes and blog Brian Harry .

Other Visual Studio tools available today.


Visual Studio Emulator for Android . Our fast, free, Hyper-V based emulator gained new features that Android developers would appreciate. First of all, it is Device Profiles and WiFi simulation. We have prepared quality profiles for the main popular devices on the market for manufacturers such as Samsung, Motorola, Sony, and LG, so you can debug your application for the full range of screen configurations, Android OS versions and other properties. Managing emulator configurations is available through the menu Options> Tools> Visual Studio Emulator for Android.


Visual Studio 2015 Tools for Docker Preview . A new component of Visual Studio 2015 RC Tools for Docker - Preview has become available today. You can create virtual machines with docker engine support, and configure docker using the Visual Studio interface and scripts, pack containers and publish them into virtual machines. This feature is very helpful when working with the .NET platform on the Linux operating system.

Microsoft Azure SDK for .NET 2.6 . This release includes new and advanced Azure developer tools, including Azure Resource Manager Tools, HDInsight Tools, and many improvements in current integrated tools. For more information about the new features you can find out from the publication what's new in Azure SDK 2.6 .

Entity Framework 7 Beta 4 . The latest version of the Entity Framework extends the platform and storage capabilities. Windows Phone, Windows Store, ASP.NET 5, and traditional desktop applications can now take full advantage of the Entity Framework. EF7 supports relational storage as well as non-relational mechanisms such as Azure Table Storage and Redis. This release contains an early version of the EF7 runtime that connects to ASP.NET 5 projects. For more details on the EF7 features, see the publication What is EF7 all about and notes on the ADO.NET blog .

ASP.NET 5 Beta 4 . The preliminary version of ASP.NET 5 Preview updates the runtime environment, includes a lightweight request processing mechanism, and enhances cross-platform use on Windows, Mac, and Linux. You can find a complete list of changes in the ASP.NET section release notes . In addition, you can learn about the new features from the publication in the ASP.NET blog .

What does Release Candidate mean?


In conclusion, I would like to clarify what “release candidate” means to us. If you are familiar with the preliminary versions of the Community Tecnology Preview (CTP), then you know that these issues are designed to collect opinions and feedback from enthusiasts who want to participate in testing the preliminary version of our product. If we called the current release of RC, it means that we are confident in the quality of this release, the set of features that we wanted to implement comes close to the final goals, and we expect feedback before announcing the final release. As part of RC, some of the release components acquire the label “go live” meaning full support for this technology or opportunity in a commercial mode, and you can build exploitable solutions based on these technologies. You can learn more about the term “go live” from the license agreement . Some important points of the current release:

If you are using Visual Studio 2015 Release Canditate, please keep in touch with us, share your wishes, thoughts and ideas through the UserVoice website, via the Send-a-Smile and Send-a-Frown functions directly in Visual Studio, or using the report about an error using the Visual Studio Connect site, thereby helping you make Visual Studio even better.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/257083/

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