Microsoft Visual Studio Tips: 251 Ways to Improve Your Productivity

Author: Sara Ford Publisher: Microsoft Press, 2008 Pages: 229 ISBN: 978-0735626409 Rating: 3 Aimed at: Visual Studio users Pros: Well written collection of tips Cons: Reprint of info available in author’s blog Reviewed by: Mike James It’s difficult to say anything bad about this book – least of all the fact that the author is giving all the profits to establish scholarships for children in her home town devastated by hurricane Katrina– however it has to be said. It’s not that the book is badly written or badly organised, it’s just that the idea of a book of 251 tips isn’t a good one. Well at least it isn’t a good idea when many of the tips are at the level of “press this key as a short cut to this feature”. The tips are all based on a well-known blog run by the author and in this form I can well imagine subscribing and enjoying my daily haiku-like tip but I’m not tedious enough to want to sit and devour the whole collection in book form. Of course you may see the prospect in a different light and revel in the minute but useful trivia.  <Reviewed in VSJ>