by John Browne, on Nov 19, 2018 2:00:33 PM
Recently at a Microsoft event, I heard that there are still over two million desktop application developers--that is, currently writing or maintaining Windows desktop apps, whether written in C++ or .NET. And regardless of your tool lashup--be it Winforms and C#, or WPF or UWP, Visual Studio is the IDE of choice. (VS Code is great, it's awesome, I use it myself--just not for pure Windows desktop development. For that I want the full meal deal.)
And one of the things that makes VS2017 such an amazing IDE is its extensibility, which has allowed an entire vast ecosystem of add-ins to flourish. You can find them in the Visual Studio Marketplace, or by searching from inside VS: Just go to Tools.Extensions and Updates... and select the "Online" option:
You may not remember the days before there were add-ins, but let me tell you they were bleak. Nowadays, if you have a specific need for functionality, there's a nearly 100% chance that someone else has the same need and has written an add-in that more than adequately addresses what you might want to do. In fact, here at Mobilize, we're big geeks and are always looking for ways to make our developers more productive. In the spirit of sharing (and Thanksgiving, right?!) here are some of my favorite tools for making your programming more productive:
Progress
The creator of Telerik .NET and Kendo UI JavaScript user interface components/controls, reporting solutions and productivity tools, Progress offers all the tools developers need to build high-performant modern web, mobile, and desktop apps with outstanding UI. In addition to tools for creating web, mobile and desktop apps efficiently, Progress also enables developers to create modern chatbot experiences in their apps.
LEADTOOLS
LEADTOOLS Imaging SDKs help programmers integrate A-Z imaging into their cross-platform applications. The comprehensive toolkits offer powerful features including OCR, Barcode, Forms, PDF, Document Viewing, Image Processing, DICOM, and PACS. Whether you're building an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution, zero-footprint medical viewer, or audio/video media streaming server, LEADTOOLS has something for every developer with native libraries for .NET, Apple, Android, and Linux, as well as a newly released consumption-based Web API in LEADTOOLS Cloud Services.
PreEmptive Solutions
PreEmptive Solutions provides quick to implement, application protection to hinder IP and data attacks and improve security related compliance. With thousands of corporate clients spanning virtually every industry in over 100 countries, PreEmptive provides exceptional value with minimal implementation costs for organizations serious about enhancing secure development with application hardening. PreEmptive’s application shielding and .NET, Xamarin, Java and Android obfuscator solutions help protect trade secrets (IP), reduce piracy/counterfeiting, prevent inspection/tampering of code and data. Whether its client, server, cloud or mobile app protection, PreEmptive can help you protect your assets now.
DocuSign
Whether you are looking for a simple eSignature integration or building a complex workflow, the DocuSign APIs and tools have you covered. Our new C# SDK includes .NET Core 2.0 support, and we just released a new Quick Start API code example for C#, complete with a 4 minute installation and demonstration video. While C# is our most popular language, we also have open source SDKs for PHP, Java, Ruby, Python, and Node.js.
Docker
Docker Enterprise is the leading container platform, familiar to millions of developers and the only one supporting multiple Windows Server and Linux distributions. If you’re new to Docker check out the Modernizing .NET Apps for Developer series or if you’re ready to use Docker then get started with Docker by downloading Docker Desktop.
CData
CData Software is a leading provider of Drivers & Adapters for data integration. The CData Drivers offer real-time SQL-92 connectivity to more than 100+ SaaS, NoSQL, and Big Data sources, through established standards like ODBC, JDBC, ADO.NET, and ODATA. By virtualizing data access, the CData drivers insulate developers from the complexities of data integration while enabling real-time data access from major BI, ETL and reporting tools. Write SQL, get data - from anywhere!
Twilio
Twilio powers the future of business communications. Enabling phones, VoIP, and messaging to be embedded into web, desktop, and mobile software. We take care of the messy telecom hardware and expose a globally available cloud API that developers can interact with to build intelligent and complex communications systems. As your app's usage scales up or down, Twilio automatically scales with you. You only pay for what you use - no contracts, no shenanigans.
Don't miss #CodeParty at DevIntersection and Microsoft Connect();
On Tuesday, Dec. 4, two important cons will overlap: DevIntersection and #MSFTConnect(). And if you check out those links for the speakers and sessions you'll realize this is a gold mine of content for developers and IT pros. #MSFTConnect is an online-only event (DevIntersection is happening at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas) and when the #MSFTConnect crowd is finished at 5:30 we will kick off another hilarious and prize-filled stream of geek weirdness and trivia questions on the CodeParty twitch channel. You won't want to miss it, because the only way to get some high-quality swag is to answer the trivia questions on the Twitch chat stream. We'll be giving away a couple of Surface Go laptops, gift certificates to Amazon, an Xbox and a bunch of other cool stuff. Don't miss it!
