Skip to content

NTVS 1.1 RC

Pre-release
Pre-release
Compare
Choose a tag to compare
@mousetraps mousetraps released this 04 Aug 18:09
v1.1.RC
c36ca3a

We are pleased to announce the release of Node.js Tools 1.1 RC for Visual Studio.

Downloads

1. Download Visual Studio Community 2015

2. Download Node.js Tools 1.1 RC

Looking for Visual Studio 2012 and 2013 support?

 

RELEASE NOTES
Node.js Tools for Visual Studio (NTVS) is a free, open-source plug-in that turns Visual Studio into a Node.js Integrated Development Environment (IDE). It supports a broad range of features including editing, IntelliSense, cross platform and remote debugging, edit and continue, npm integration, profiling, TypeScript, and an integrated REPL window. NTVS also includes a set of project templates that make it easy to quickly create and deploy websites to Microsoft Azure Websites or Cloud Services.

NTVS 1.1 RC is available for:

  • Visual Studio Community 2015
  • Visual Studio Community 2013
  • Visual Studio 2013 Express for Web (requires Update 2 or later)
  • Visual Studio 2015 Professional or above
  • Visual Studio 2013 Professional or above (requires Update 2 or later)
  • Visual Studio 2012 Professional or above (requires Update 4)

Note that NTVS is not available for Visual Studio Express for Windows (or Windows Desktop)

Changes since 1.1 Beta

IntelliSense

Significantly improved performance

We've improved overall code analysis performance in this release by adding a new limit in place based on the depth of the npm tree so we don't have to analyze the world.

Additionally, we've added a new Quick IntelliSense mode available in Options > Node.js IntelliSense to limit it even further if you're still running into issues.

image

We're constantly working to improve the IntelliSense experience, so please let us know what you think of these improvements (especially if you notice a dip in quality of completions.)

Browser-mode for working with the DOM

There are tons of full-stack Node devs out there who are living in both browser-land and Node-land, and we've had many questions how to enable IntelliSense for the DOM... On the one hand we want to reduce clutter in the completions list, but on the other hand we want to provide as flexible an experience as possible. There was always a way to enable proper editing of DOM code within NTVS, but hats off to anyone who managed to discover it on their own.

In an effort to make this feature more discoverable and easier to use, we've introduced an explicit node/browser label on folders containing javascript files. Additionally, you can right click on any directory, and select Set as Content (browser code) or Set as Compile (Node.js code) to toggle between modes.

image

And of course, if you want to turn the labels off once you've configured your project, there's a new option to do so in:
Options > Node.js Tools > Show labels denoting browser and Node.js code in Solution Explorer

Debugger improvements

We fixed a race condition that was preventing many folks from launching the debugger in all sorts of unexpected ways. So if breakpoints weren't working properly sometimes, or your app was having trouble running under the debugger, or things were generally inconsistent then hopefully this'll help 😃.

Additionally we've fixed a source mapping bug that should make it a little easier to debug your TypeScript code if the output is being mapped to a single file.

Unit test running and debugging

We now adhere to a default 2 second timeout when running mocha unit tests, so your test runs should complete more quickly.

Additionally, we've added the ability to configure mocha by adding a config file to the project located at $(ProjectDirectory)\test\mocha.json. Adding the mocha.json file will result in the mocha tests running with the options specified. An example of a valid mocha.json file is:

{
    "ui": "tdd",
    "timeout": 300000,
    "reporter": "xunit"
}

And lastly, we've fixed some issues where tests with certain names weren't properly discovered/run, added better error logging so you can more easily track down issues in the future, and fixed that pesky bug preventing unit test debugging in VS 2015.

npm Integration

In this release, we've introduced an "Open Documentation" command on npm packages that lets you quickly hop to the documentation. It's the little things 😃.

image

New Dockerfile template

Docker is all the rage now, so to make it just a little easier to get started... we've added a new Linux-based dockerfile template (based on node:latest). Simply right click your project, select "Add New Item", and select the Dockerfile template to generate a Dockerfile for your project based on your current project settings.

Numerous bug fixes

All across the product numerous issues have been fixed. We expect the RC release to provide both a much better user experience and improved stability. We would like to thank all of the people who took their time to report issues, send feedback for this release. We very much appreciate your help!

Known Issues

  • [VS2013 only] Be sure to customize the .gitignore file that Visual Studio places into your solution when you enable git source control, otherwise you may face issues with commits or continuous deployment.
  • ReSharper is known to cause code-completion, memory, and performance issues when enabled alongside NTVS. We recommend disabling at least ReSharper's JavaScript functionality if you are having problems.
  • NTVS does not fully support build and test features of Visual Studio Online, but we are working to improve the experience. If you are having trouble, please file an issue so we can get to the bottom of it.
  • We are constantly working to improve our code-completion and formatting to support the wide variety of modules and code styles. Please file an issue if you are running into unexpected behavior.

For a full list of issues, head on over to our issue tracker

Thank You for Your Contributions

We expect the release of NTVS 1.1 RC to provide both a much better user experience and improved stability. Thanks so much to everyone who took their time to report issues and send feedback for this release. We very much appreciate your help!

We would also like to send special thanks to @kant2002, @jaredpar, and @lukedgr for contributing to this release through pull requests.

Help make NTVS Better

NTVS is an open source project and we’re always willing to take high quality contributions. If you’d like to contribute, please check out our issue tracker for outstanding bugs and features which can be implemented. You can also help make NTVS better by reporting issues or helping out your fellow users on GitHub.

Miscellaneous thoughts on the release? Give us a shout-out on twitter!

Assets 2
Loading