16 Tips for Getting Up to Speed & Exploiting the Power of CodeRush and Refactor! Pro

#2: Add frequently-used classes to the template type mnemonics by right-clicking any reference to that type in the code and choosing “Use Type in Templates…”, and then specifying a shortcut mnemonic to associate with that type.

Once added, your new mnemonic will work with all the template “verbs” which are followed by an ellipsis in the CodeRush training window. Custom mnemonics can be edited on the Dynamic Lists options page:

1. From the DevExpress menu, select "Options...".
2. In the tree view on the left, navigate to this folder:

    Core

3. Select the "Dynamic Lists" options page.
4. Change the language combo to *Neutral*. Remember to change this back to your favorite language when editing the data on other options pages.
5. Select the "Custom Types" dynamic list.

#7: Navigate through all references to the identifier or type at the caret by pressing the Tab key (Shift+Tab navigates back, and/or Escape brings you to the place where you first pressed Tab).

#8: Press Alt+Home to drop a stack-based marker. Press Escape to collect it. Stack-based markers are like bread crumbs and help you find your way back through important points in your code.

#9: Widen the selection by logical blocks by pressing Num + on the numeric keypad, or Ctrl+W. Once a selection has been widened, you can reduce it using Num - on the numeric keypad, or Ctrl+Shift+W.

#10: Wrap multi-line selections in try/catch blocks just by pressing the letter "c". Look to the training window for more wrapping shortcuts when the selection extends beyond two or more lines.

#11: Create brace block pairs in C#, C++, and JavaScript with the b template (type the letter "b", then press the spacebar). Similarly, you can wrap a multi-line selection inside braces by pressing the letter "b".

#12: Change the visibility of the member or type containing the caret by pressing the Alt+Up and Alt+Down keys.

#13: Navigate between camel-case sections by pressing Alt+Left or Alt+Right. Combine that with the Shift key to select camel-case sections.

#14: Rebind the default Refactor key binding (Ctrl+` -- that's Ctrl plus the backtick) to something easier to hit. I prefer Num 0 on the numeric keypad. Scott Hanselman prefers simply the backtick. You can change this binding through DevExpress | Options, then navigate to the IDE\Shortcuts options page and open the Refactor! folder. While you're here, check out the alternate shortcut bindings that you can simply enable (like F2 for Rename).

#15: Use the Refactor key for TDD-style development. Create your client calls first, then press the Refactor key to declare method stubs, classes, structs, interfaces, fields, locals, etc.

#16: Confidently use CodeRush and Refactor! Pro with the latest language features of Visual Studio 2008, like LINQ expressions in C# and VB, lambda expressions in C#, and XML literals in VB. Yes, we do realize Visual Studio 2008 has been out for something like six months, and you would think that by now competing products would have final shipping support for C# 3.0 and VB 9. Unbelievably, that still isn't the case. Of course, CodeRush and Refactor! Pro have included full support for C# 3.0 and VB 9.0 (and many other languages) since the day Visual Studio 2008 shipped.

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