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Visual Studio 2013 Cookbook
Over 50 simple but incredibly effective recipes to get you up and running with the powerful features of Visual Studio 2013 If you are a developer excited about the new features introduced in Visual Studio 2013, then no matter what your programming language of choice is, Visual Studio 2013 Cookbook is for you. You should have a good knowledge of working with previous versions of Visual Studio to enjoy the recipes in this book. This book provides practical examples to help you use Visual Studio 2013 more effectively. Visual Studio 2013 is the premier tool for developers targeting the Microsoft platform. Learning how to effectively use this technology can enhance your productivity while simplifying your most common tasks, allowing you more time to focus on your project. Visual Studio 2013 Cookbook will introduce you to all the new areas of Visual Studio and how they can quickly be put to use to improve your everyday development tasks. With this book, you will learn not only what VS2013 offers, but what it takes to put it to work for your projects. Updated and expanded for VS2013, this book begins by introducing you to the interface changes to Visual Studio and then moves on to demonstrate how VS2013 can be used for developing desktop, mobile, and web applications. This book provides a comprehensive overview of all areas of Visual Studio. This practical approach will benefit you greatly if you are a newcomer but also if you want a tour of what the latest edition of Visual Studio has to offer. The recipes in this book provide useful examples of VS2013 which can help you whether you are targeting the Web, mobile devices, or the traditional Windows desktop.
332 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 12, 2014
This is a cross post of my review from [Book Review] Visual Studio 2013 Cookbook
Let's start with the bad...
I usually don't write "bad" reviews ("If you can say something nice..." and all that) and I'm not this time either. BUT you have to understand the intent of the book before you get it. Based on the title and chapter headers, I got something different than I expected and that colored my initial feelings.
Frist off, I think the book is good and has a great information, but the description and information on its page might led to confusion about its actual content.
I thought I was going to be reading a book about Visual Studio 2013, the IDE. Recipes on using it, tips and tricks for getting the most out of VS itself.
It's not that.
It's more a book about learning to cook with the new technologies available in VS 2013 than about VS 2013 itself. Does that make sense? It's more about what you can make with a stove, not really about the stove itself.
For example, here's a snip from the book's description page;
What you will learn from this book
•Customize the editor’s new abilities to fit your development style
•Create apps for Windows 8.1
•Use Visual Studio to debug parallel and concurrent programs
•Integrate .NET Framework 4.5.1 effectively
•Learn about both the Express and premium editions of Visual Studio
•Maximize Visual Studio's C++ tools to make development easier
•Put TypeScript to work in your web applications
•Protect and manage your source code with Team Foundation Server
•Learn about Visual Studio Online
This might lead you to believe that the book is indeed about VS itself. I know I thought so. But then see the lines, "Create apps for Windows 8.1 " and "Put TypeScript to work in your web applications." THAT is what I talking about as being what you can make with VS 2013, not being about VS 2013 itself. And a many of the chapters are like this. Using VS 2013 to build WinStore App's from a template, creating a WCF Service, Adding a Ribbon to a WPF App, etc, etc.
Don't get me wrong, there are many parts that help you learn to use VS 2013, but my impression is it's 50/50, VS vs cooking with VS...
My suggestion to you is too really read the FULL chapter descriptions and check out the preview before purchase, so you understand what you are jumping into. DON'T be like me and stop at the chapter headers, but continue on down the page and look at the chapter contents.
Enough whining, now the Good...
If taken as a "What can I Cook with VS 2013," this book provides a great survey of many of the new capabilities and features now available. The cookbook format is used well and provides nice bite sized chunks of digestible information.
The book is also very current and up to date. For example, the name change of SkyDrive to OneDrive is noted in the book. Also VS 2013 Update 2 Beta is mentioned (not VS 2013 Update RC of course, as that was just announced last week)
The breadth of covered technology is also nice. WPF, WCF, WinStore, TFS, etc is all covered. It's a great survey of what you can do with VS 2013.
Should you get it?
If you have VS 2012 and are wondering what you can do once you VS 2013, looking for reasons why to upgrade, this looks like a great book. Again, make sure you look at the chapter details, but if you are using VS 2012 and are trying to convince someone, yourself, co-workers, boss, etc on why you might want to upgrade, what you'll be able to build and do once you get it, yeah, you should look a long close look at picking this book up.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe my readers will enjoy. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Let's start with the bad...
I usually don't write "bad" reviews ("If you can say something nice..." and all that) and I'm not this time either. BUT you have to understand the intent of the book before you get it. Based on the title and chapter headers, I got something different than I expected and that colored my initial feelings.
Frist off, I think the book is good and has a great information, but the description and information on its page might led to confusion about its actual content.
I thought I was going to be reading a book about Visual Studio 2013, the IDE. Recipes on using it, tips and tricks for getting the most out of VS itself.
It's not that.
It's more a book about learning to cook with the new technologies available in VS 2013 than about VS 2013 itself. Does that make sense? It's more about what you can make with a stove, not really about the stove itself.
For example, here's a snip from the book's description page;
What you will learn from this book
•Customize the editor’s new abilities to fit your development style
•Create apps for Windows 8.1
•Use Visual Studio to debug parallel and concurrent programs
•Integrate .NET Framework 4.5.1 effectively
•Learn about both the Express and premium editions of Visual Studio
•Maximize Visual Studio's C++ tools to make development easier
•Put TypeScript to work in your web applications
•Protect and manage your source code with Team Foundation Server
•Learn about Visual Studio Online
This might lead you to believe that the book is indeed about VS itself. I know I thought so. But then see the lines, "Create apps for Windows 8.1 " and "Put TypeScript to work in your web applications." THAT is what I talking about as being what you can make with VS 2013, not being about VS 2013 itself. And a many of the chapters are like this. Using VS 2013 to build WinStore App's from a template, creating a WCF Service, Adding a Ribbon to a WPF App, etc, etc.
Don't get me wrong, there are many parts that help you learn to use VS 2013, but my impression is it's 50/50, VS vs cooking with VS...
My suggestion to you is too really read the FULL chapter descriptions and check out the preview before purchase, so you understand what you are jumping into. DON'T be like me and stop at the chapter headers, but continue on down the page and look at the chapter contents.
Enough whining, now the Good...
If taken as a "What can I Cook with VS 2013," this book provides a great survey of many of the new capabilities and features now available. The cookbook format is used well and provides nice bite sized chunks of digestible information.
The book is also very current and up to date. For example, the name change of SkyDrive to OneDrive is noted in the book. Also VS 2013 Update 2 Beta is mentioned (not VS 2013 Update RC of course, as that was just announced last week)
The breadth of covered technology is also nice. WPF, WCF, WinStore, TFS, etc is all covered. It's a great survey of what you can do with VS 2013.
Should you get it?
If you have VS 2012 and are wondering what you can do once you VS 2013, looking for reasons why to upgrade, this looks like a great book. Again, make sure you look at the chapter details, but if you are using VS 2012 and are trying to convince someone, yourself, co-workers, boss, etc on why you might want to upgrade, what you'll be able to build and do once you get it, yeah, you should look a long close look at picking this book up.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe my readers will enjoy. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
April 28, 2014
Disclaimer: I was provided a complimentary electronic copy of this book by the publisher. In no way was I directed on the content of my review. Opinions are mine alone.
Why would you buy a Visual Studio 2013 book instead of just using the Internet to find what you need? Simple, time and content. The amount of new features and ways to do things in this version is substantial. Mining the Internet you are sure to miss many gems that could make a large difference to your day-to-day work. Going through this book you will benefit that a team of people has done the work for you. Ensuring they have included everything and the content is correct for your easy perusal.
Chapter 1 gives a very good overview of the new additions to the main tool you use each day.
Chapter 2 gives a very good starting place for Windows 8.1 development. It will get you past the new stuff quickly to allow you to get into the code.
Chapter 3 goes over Web Development with MVC 5 and the new One ASP.NET model.
Chapter 4 uses some I'm not dead yet WPF ("WPF remains the recommended choice for developing desktop applications on the Windows platform. Visual Studio 2013 itself is a WPF application", p 118) WF, WCF and .NET application development.
Chapter 5 Debugging Enhancements
Chapter 6 Asynchrony in .NET
Chapter 7 C++, I skimmed this one, but the C++ developer should be thrilled, and it makes me want to learn DirectX.
Chapter 8 Team Foundation Server features from a users perspective. Great features that many developers aren't utilizing that can very much help day-to-day. If you are managing a TFS server though, you'll want more than what is provided here.
Chapter 9 is on languages TypeScript, Python and IronPython. TypeScript I knew and understand, but I have no idea about Python, and don't really want to, but it's good to know it's available if that's your flavour of choice.
Appendix contains recipes on Installers, Submitting Windows Store apps, Visual Studio Add-ins and extensions, and creating your own snippets.
The "There's more..." sections littered throughout are valuable on there own, revealing many power user features I was unaware of. The recipe format of the books make it a great reference to have on-hand. Going to the relevant recipe within the book will be a faster and more reliable process than going online.
I intended to flick through this book quickly and dive in on a couple of chapters. I however could not help but go through it all. The capabilities we have available to us, just from Visual Studio is amazing. Going over it all I can't help but think of all the possibilities and opportunities. Now I must get back to coding.
If you want to get a hold of this book you can get it directly from the publisher, Amazon and many retailers.
Why would you buy a Visual Studio 2013 book instead of just using the Internet to find what you need? Simple, time and content. The amount of new features and ways to do things in this version is substantial. Mining the Internet you are sure to miss many gems that could make a large difference to your day-to-day work. Going through this book you will benefit that a team of people has done the work for you. Ensuring they have included everything and the content is correct for your easy perusal.
Chapter 1 gives a very good overview of the new additions to the main tool you use each day.
Chapter 2 gives a very good starting place for Windows 8.1 development. It will get you past the new stuff quickly to allow you to get into the code.
Chapter 3 goes over Web Development with MVC 5 and the new One ASP.NET model.
Chapter 4 uses some I'm not dead yet WPF ("WPF remains the recommended choice for developing desktop applications on the Windows platform. Visual Studio 2013 itself is a WPF application", p 118) WF, WCF and .NET application development.
Chapter 5 Debugging Enhancements
Chapter 6 Asynchrony in .NET
Chapter 7 C++, I skimmed this one, but the C++ developer should be thrilled, and it makes me want to learn DirectX.
Chapter 8 Team Foundation Server features from a users perspective. Great features that many developers aren't utilizing that can very much help day-to-day. If you are managing a TFS server though, you'll want more than what is provided here.
Chapter 9 is on languages TypeScript, Python and IronPython. TypeScript I knew and understand, but I have no idea about Python, and don't really want to, but it's good to know it's available if that's your flavour of choice.
Appendix contains recipes on Installers, Submitting Windows Store apps, Visual Studio Add-ins and extensions, and creating your own snippets.
The "There's more..." sections littered throughout are valuable on there own, revealing many power user features I was unaware of. The recipe format of the books make it a great reference to have on-hand. Going to the relevant recipe within the book will be a faster and more reliable process than going online.
I intended to flick through this book quickly and dive in on a couple of chapters. I however could not help but go through it all. The capabilities we have available to us, just from Visual Studio is amazing. Going over it all I can't help but think of all the possibilities and opportunities. Now I must get back to coding.
If you want to get a hold of this book you can get it directly from the publisher, Amazon and many retailers.
May 28, 2014
Visual Studio 2013 is a huge technological leap forward. The book Visual Studio 2013 Cookbook helps to get on track with latest features including enhanced support for JavaScript and C++.
Software projects often combine many different technologies like C++, .NET or JavaScript. Professional developer must be aware of all these technologies. The book is a great source of essential information which helps developer to grasp important concepts implemented in Visual Studio.
Cookbook provides short and easy to understand chapters about wide range of features. Each chapter contains some links to web sites or related technologies.
I recommend to read the book one chapter a day. Learn new stuff, experiment with it and next day continue with next chapter.
What you can find inside the book? Here is selection of some interesting topics
Chapter 1: Discovering Visual Studio 2013
- contains productive tips how to use Visual Studio in effective way (keyboard shortcuts, navigation in project)
Chapter 2: Getting Started with Windows Store Application
- good starting point for building own application for Windows Store
- introduction to analysiss of application performance
Chapter 3: Web development
- learn how to work with Bootstrap
- minification of JavaScript and CSS
Chapter 4: .NET 4.5.1 Development
- unit testing of .Net apps
- managing packages with NuGet
Chapter 5: Debugging .NET Application
- debugging with IntelliTrace
- debugging parallel code
Chapter 6: Asynchrony in .NET
- introduction to popular way of programming applications
- integration of async concepts with web applications
Chapter 7: Unwrapping C++ Development
- C++ is still very popular and Visual Studio 2013 introduces several concepts known in .NET or JavaScript
- Native Unit Test Project for C++
- graphics programming - 3D, DGSL and diagnostics
Chapter 8: Working with Team Foundation Server
- getting feedback from users
- git integration
Chapter 9: Languages
- highly improved integration with further languages like TypeScript or Python
- Python support is simply awesome
Software projects often combine many different technologies like C++, .NET or JavaScript. Professional developer must be aware of all these technologies. The book is a great source of essential information which helps developer to grasp important concepts implemented in Visual Studio.
Cookbook provides short and easy to understand chapters about wide range of features. Each chapter contains some links to web sites or related technologies.
I recommend to read the book one chapter a day. Learn new stuff, experiment with it and next day continue with next chapter.
What you can find inside the book? Here is selection of some interesting topics
Chapter 1: Discovering Visual Studio 2013
- contains productive tips how to use Visual Studio in effective way (keyboard shortcuts, navigation in project)
Chapter 2: Getting Started with Windows Store Application
- good starting point for building own application for Windows Store
- introduction to analysiss of application performance
Chapter 3: Web development
- learn how to work with Bootstrap
- minification of JavaScript and CSS
Chapter 4: .NET 4.5.1 Development
- unit testing of .Net apps
- managing packages with NuGet
Chapter 5: Debugging .NET Application
- debugging with IntelliTrace
- debugging parallel code
Chapter 6: Asynchrony in .NET
- introduction to popular way of programming applications
- integration of async concepts with web applications
Chapter 7: Unwrapping C++ Development
- C++ is still very popular and Visual Studio 2013 introduces several concepts known in .NET or JavaScript
- Native Unit Test Project for C++
- graphics programming - 3D, DGSL and diagnostics
Chapter 8: Working with Team Foundation Server
- getting feedback from users
- git integration
Chapter 9: Languages
- highly improved integration with further languages like TypeScript or Python
- Python support is simply awesome
May 4, 2014
Oh Visual Studio! A very fast evolving product, who does not use it when developing on a Microsoft platform?
I used the one 1st in my life that came in late 90s, it if I remember correctly it offered 3-4 projects.
Today, after it went through such an evolution Visual Studio has reached an enormous heights. From ETL to reports, from DirectX to tests, from database projects to Windows Store App development, and what not?
A book on Visual Studio makes a lot of sense.
Gladly Packt has one off its sleeve that is called Cookbook, in my view these books simply avoid wasting your time. Yet this book is quite universal, if you wish, it will take you through basics as opening a developers` account, or if you do not want to walk baby steps you can jump straight to very advanced topics as say the TPL Dataflow, WPF, Bootstrap and more.
I felt the book can be sliced and diced like a multidimensional cube, back and forth without any particular order and all would still make sense. Feel free to pick only the parts you need or like.
I enjoyed reading on Python with .Net integration, turned out it is simple.
WCF is something I will be doing soon at work, so this book will be revisited gain.
The book is full of graphics, coloreful, high quality graphics, very well structured examples, and full of insight, discusses improvements and suggest on best practices.
The book also covers working with a workflow, graphics, it was even fun to refresh my C++ skills in Visual Studio 2013 retrospective.
In terms of closing, it makes sense to have a printed copy or two, the book must be kept on a bookshelf ready to be borrowed by colleagues. Having it in the eBook format is as helpful as you can search it whenever you need some reference or a refresh. On another note, I wish the book could cover more material as BI, Database, F# development,
I am giving this book the maximum mark possible.
I used the one 1st in my life that came in late 90s, it if I remember correctly it offered 3-4 projects.
Today, after it went through such an evolution Visual Studio has reached an enormous heights. From ETL to reports, from DirectX to tests, from database projects to Windows Store App development, and what not?
A book on Visual Studio makes a lot of sense.
Gladly Packt has one off its sleeve that is called Cookbook, in my view these books simply avoid wasting your time. Yet this book is quite universal, if you wish, it will take you through basics as opening a developers` account, or if you do not want to walk baby steps you can jump straight to very advanced topics as say the TPL Dataflow, WPF, Bootstrap and more.
I felt the book can be sliced and diced like a multidimensional cube, back and forth without any particular order and all would still make sense. Feel free to pick only the parts you need or like.
I enjoyed reading on Python with .Net integration, turned out it is simple.
WCF is something I will be doing soon at work, so this book will be revisited gain.
The book is full of graphics, coloreful, high quality graphics, very well structured examples, and full of insight, discusses improvements and suggest on best practices.
The book also covers working with a workflow, graphics, it was even fun to refresh my C++ skills in Visual Studio 2013 retrospective.
In terms of closing, it makes sense to have a printed copy or two, the book must be kept on a bookshelf ready to be borrowed by colleagues. Having it in the eBook format is as helpful as you can search it whenever you need some reference or a refresh. On another note, I wish the book could cover more material as BI, Database, F# development,
I am giving this book the maximum mark possible.
April 18, 2014
Oh Visual Studio! A very fast evolving product, who does not use it when developing on a Microsoft platform?
I used the one 1st in my life that came in late 90s, it if I remember correctly it offered 3-4 projects.
Today, after it went through such an evolution Visual Studio has reached an enormous heights. From ETL to reports, from DirectX to tests, from database projects to Windows Store App development, and what not?
A book on Visual Studio makes a lot of sense.
Gladly Packt has one off its sleeve that is called Cookbook, in my view these books simply avoid wasting your time. Yet this book is quite universal, if you wish, it will take you through basics as opening a developers` account, or if you do not want to walk baby steps you can jump straight to very advanced topics as say the TPL Dataflow, WPF, Bootstrap and more.
I felt the book can be sliced and diced like a multidimensional cube, back and forth without any particular order and all would still make sense. Feel free to pick only the parts you need or like.
I enjoyed reading on Python with .Net integration, turned out it is simple.
WCF is something I will be doing soon at work, so this book will be revisited gain.
The book is full of graphics, coloreful, high quality graphics, very well structured examples, and full of insight, discusses improvements and suggest on best practices.
The book also covers working with a workflow, graphics, it was even fun to refresh my C++ skills in Visual Studio 2013 retrospective.
In terms of closing, it makes sense to have a printed copy or two, the book must be kept on a bookshelf ready to be borrowed by colleagues. Having it in the eBook format is as helpful as you can search it whenever you need some reference or a refresh. On another note, I wish the book could cover more material as BI, Database, F# development,
I am giving this book the maximum mark possible.
I used the one 1st in my life that came in late 90s, it if I remember correctly it offered 3-4 projects.
Today, after it went through such an evolution Visual Studio has reached an enormous heights. From ETL to reports, from DirectX to tests, from database projects to Windows Store App development, and what not?
A book on Visual Studio makes a lot of sense.
Gladly Packt has one off its sleeve that is called Cookbook, in my view these books simply avoid wasting your time. Yet this book is quite universal, if you wish, it will take you through basics as opening a developers` account, or if you do not want to walk baby steps you can jump straight to very advanced topics as say the TPL Dataflow, WPF, Bootstrap and more.
I felt the book can be sliced and diced like a multidimensional cube, back and forth without any particular order and all would still make sense. Feel free to pick only the parts you need or like.
I enjoyed reading on Python with .Net integration, turned out it is simple.
WCF is something I will be doing soon at work, so this book will be revisited gain.
The book is full of graphics, coloreful, high quality graphics, very well structured examples, and full of insight, discusses improvements and suggest on best practices.
The book also covers working with a workflow, graphics, it was even fun to refresh my C++ skills in Visual Studio 2013 retrospective.
In terms of closing, it makes sense to have a printed copy or two, the book must be kept on a bookshelf ready to be borrowed by colleagues. Having it in the eBook format is as helpful as you can search it whenever you need some reference or a refresh. On another note, I wish the book could cover more material as BI, Database, F# development,
I am giving this book the maximum mark possible.
April 23, 2014
The first chapter give a decent introduction to the IDE and contain a lot of helpful tips & tricks on working more efficient. This would only be suited to developers new to the IDE if it wasn't for focus being on the new features that's just been added in the 2013 version. As it stands, this is a good read both for experienced developers that are still on older versions of the IDE and new developers who wants to start using it.
If you're looking for a quick and easy way to get started with Windows Store and/or web app development, the second and third chapters in this book will help you get there, they cover each step from acquiring a dev licence to validating your app. Microsoft have stated that on Windows 8 JavaScript will be a first class citizen for creating Metro style apps, and that their tools will reflect this. It's therefore good to see a rundown of all the new features of web development using Visual Studio 2013.
The only thing I found lacking was the chapter about asynchrony in .NET, it seems out of place in this book and doesn't really handle the subject well in my opinion. I also would have liked to see a few recipes on how to take web development into the Azure cloud using Visual Studio.
If you're looking for a quick and easy way to get started with Windows Store and/or web app development, the second and third chapters in this book will help you get there, they cover each step from acquiring a dev licence to validating your app. Microsoft have stated that on Windows 8 JavaScript will be a first class citizen for creating Metro style apps, and that their tools will reflect this. It's therefore good to see a rundown of all the new features of web development using Visual Studio 2013.
The only thing I found lacking was the chapter about asynchrony in .NET, it seems out of place in this book and doesn't really handle the subject well in my opinion. I also would have liked to see a few recipes on how to take web development into the Azure cloud using Visual Studio.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews