Simplified Debugging

Breakpoints

Visual C# Express makes it easy to essentially "pause" your application while running. Simply add a breakpoint to the line of code that you went to examine more closely. You can then step through each line of code and examine the state of all variables as the code executes. This is incredibly useful for tracking down pesky bugs!

Edit and Continue

Edit and Continue (E&C) enables you, while on a breakpoint, to change your source code in mid-execution. You can add new code, update existing code, or change variable values. You can even rewind your application to execute your newly updated code. Simply drag the yellow insertion point arrow in the left column up to the line of code you want to execute.

Exception Assistant

The Exception Assistant provides detailed information about any exceptions you encounter when debugging your application, and more importantly, it also provides recommendations for how to fix any errors.

Debugger Data Tips

Debugger Data Tips provide support for quickly inspecting variables while debugging your Windows application. To use debugger Data Tips, simply place your mouse cursor over a type and you can then drill directly into the type's content.

Debugger Visualizers

When examining variables, it is easy to make sense of a simple numeric type, but more complex types (such as an XML file) may be harder to visualize. Debugger Visualizers provide a visual representation of your objects so that you can "see" your data while debugging. For example, you can see a graphical representation of an XML string, such as an RSS feed using the XML Visualizer.

You can also use the DataSet Visualizer to easily view and navigate the contents of a DataSet.