I thought I would compile a list of a few of my favourite free SharePoint development tools this week, ideal stocking fillers for your favourite SharePoint developer; if you have any other suggestions then I would be eager to hear them.
Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint Power Tools
The current iteration doesn’t contain a great deal of tools but the ones it does have are great. If Compile time verification of Sandbox solutions is not enough it also provides the ability to include Visual Web Parts in your sandbox.
SharePoint Log Viewer
If it’s worth knowing it’s in the SharePoint ULS logs. Trying to analyse these logs in Notepad or via FindStr can be an exercise in pain. The SharePoint Log Viewer can be found in CodePlex and makes checking your solutions straight-forward, just place a filter on Area and your done.
NotePad++
Everybody has their favourite editor, mine was notepad for many years, however times change and now I swear by NotePad++. This nice editor pretty much does it all while providing a clean colour coded interface.
.NET Reflector 6
The ultimate tool for assisting you override those pesky SharePoint classes. The free version 6 is a little tricky to get hold of now but surely such a useful tool is worth a few quid.
SharePoint CAML Viewer
I have to confess that I wrote my own CAML viewer / creator some years ago however this tool is almost as good.
Defraggler
Keep your development environment running in tip top condition by defragging regularly. This tool allows you to see which files are the worst offenders and defag a file at a time.
These are just a few of the tools that I use on a day by day basis, I haven’t included all my own custom tools and PowerShell scripts such as WarmUp, SharePointVersion and DevDashboard toggler.
Well I’m off to wring the neck of the Christmas goose, mull my wine and steam my figgy pudding so to everybody out there have a very good Christmas and an excellent New Year (assuming we’re still here).
