More on CodeRush/Refactor 2.0

CodeRush/Refactor is evolving into the tool I want to love, but it’s just not there yet. The templates are tremendously cool (and it’s obvious I’ve barely scratched their surface) but as a whole it’s lacking a number of Resharper features I find it hard to live without.

Some of these were previously mentioned, but this is my complete, updated wish list for CodeRush/Refactor:

• I need keyboard shortcuts for “Move Down Call Graph” (Go To Definition) and “Move Up Call Graph” (or List References, when there’s more than one possibility). Visual Studio 2005 has only halfhearted implementations of these. For example it doesn’t take overloaded routines into account and it frequently just doesn’t find some references. Visual Studio 2003 is totally lacking the List References/Find Symbol functionality, making this a huge win there. These are what I called “usage search tools” last week. This is a killer Resharper feature that I just can’t live without.
• I’d like a tool window showing my marker stack that allows visiting any marker with a double-click, without altering the stack. (Maybe add some right-click options and/or drag-n-drop to modify the stack. I could be persuaded that’s overkill.) This would make markers the perfect bookmark replacement, and I could forget about them altogether. As it is, I still have to use bookmarks if there’s a bunch of source locations I need to visit frequently in relatively random order.
• I’d like additional syntax highlighting options. In particular, I like being able to give colors to variables of different scope (member, local, parameter).
• I’d like a comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts, including templates, navigation, embedding, etc. I know the vast majority are context sensitive, and this list would be huge, but I still want it and this is my list. 🙂 At the very least, bring the training panel (which is awesome) up-to-date. Shift-ESC, one of my favorites, isn’t even on there! Good thing I discovered it via the training video!
• CodeRush needs to do smart overwriting of closing parentheses: another one I got used to in Resharper. With the default options, there are some strange gymnastics required to work around the automatically inserted closing parentheses. For example, attempt to type this line:

  someStringBuilder.Append(someEnumValue.ToString());

  When you type the opening parentheses for ToString, a closing parentheses is added, so now both are in place. However, depending on the strength of your habits, you’re likely to add an extra parentheses or two. Even if you stop, you’ve now got to press End or cursor to the right before pressing enter. (Unless you have “Smart Enter” turned on, which is what I did, but that’s not the default.) Resharper recognizes that there are no more parentheses needed, and automagically overwrites them as you type. I don’t like that with CodeRush I have extra mental gymnastics to examine the parentheses situation at the end of some lines. Again, familiarity would probably make it better but I think Resharper’s solution is a good one: low impact to newbies without sacrificing power. I’m sure someone can point out that I’ve missed an option or “the right way” to type this line, but that’s exactly the point: Resharper doesn’t make me learn a new way to type code (or ship with options that do).

• The refactor hotkey should have more consistent behavior. You can assign a keyboard shortcut to the context-sensitive refactorings, which is great. The problem is that if there’s only one available refactoring for the current context, it’s automatically performed. For someone relatively new to the product, I’d prefer to see what’s going to happen first. Maybe I’ll change my mind as I get more familiar. Nevertheless, I’d make this an option and default it to the “just pop up, don’t perform” setting to accomodate newbies.
• I’m getting used to using CodeRush’s QuickNav, which is equivalent to Resharper’s CTRL-N (Go To Type) or CTRL-SHIFT-N (Go To File). The only thing I’d like is being able to change the search scope more easily with the keyboard. I still feel like I could get to ANY file/type quicker with Resharper because I never had to reach for the mouse. Also, Resharper’s list updates as you type, making everything feel snappier.
• Better availability for some refactorings. Want to “safe rename” a structure? Too bad, it’s not there! You’re stuck with Visual Studio 2005’s icky implementation, or you’re totally out of luck in VS2003.
• Resharper does background compilation, which lets you see any compile-time errors as you type and improves intellisense. I’m less of a rabid fan of this than many Resharper users, but it is cool. It’s yet another feature that’s less necessary if you work primarily in VS2005, but is killer for VS2003 users.
• Show me unused variables and unreachable code. Resharper does this.
• CodeRush lacks brace auto-completion, though it does auto-complete parentheses and square brackets.
• CodeRush needs contextual help for the options dialogue. There are a ton of options, and this is most definitely a Good Thing for this type of product. As you’d expect, many of these are not self-explanatory. The only way to figure them out, right now, is to experiment.

I’ll continue to keep an eye on CodeRush. Its got real potential, it’s definitely breaking new ground in the UI, but for me it’s not a Resharper replacement. My quick and dirty summary of the differences is this: If you spend most of your time writing lots of brand new code, CodeRush’s templates are very compelling. If you spend lots of time integrating your work with existing code, particularly code written by other people, Resharper’s analysis tools are the bigger win. Typically at my day job, I’m in the latter camp. If you’re an Eclipse zealot who is occasionally forced to work with .NET, you’re going to find Resharper strangely familiar. (I’m not, but I work with a few.)

I was surprised to see people on the DevExpress newsgroups reporting that CodeRush and Resharper can peacefully coexist. Sounds dangerous, but the possibility of having the best of both worlds is so compelling it’s worth a shot.