One of the most annoying thing about Visual Studio default settings is the fact that the Solution Explorer doesn’t track what files you are currently looking at. Alot of developers thought this was the only way, and had to bear the pain of flicking through the Solution Explorer while scratching their head to figure out ‘where the hell I put this file?’.

There is actually a setting in Visual Studio that does this automatically.

Tools – Options – Projects and Solutions – Track Active Item in Solution Explorer

There is actually a setting in Visual Studio that does this automatically.

Tools – Options – Projects and Solutions – Track Active Item in Solution Explorer

Just tick the box..and you’re all set!

Just tick the box..and you’re all set!

source: http://www.ronaldwidha.net/2008/11/26/visual-studio-show-active-file-in-solution-explorer/

Thanks Ronald!

Microsoft has introduced a new optimizeCompilations switch in ASP.NET that can greatly improve the compilation speed in some scenarios. You can read this blog post to understand the overall idea, study a more detailed explanation about Dynamic Compilation here or simply follow these 2 easy steps:

1) Install this hot-fix:

• Windows XP: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/KB969612
• Windows Vista: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/KB967535
• Windows 7 – not necessary

2) Update your web.config as follows:

Add optimizeCompilations=”true” to your <compilation …> tag. Below is an example:

<system.web>
....
<compilation debug="true" optimizeCompilations="true">
....
</compilation>
....
</system.web>


And you’re done! Next time you change something inside the App_code or even a dll inside the bin folder you might not have to wait the entire site to rebuild.

Important note: this approach speeds things up but you might get some weird errors when you start changing some code signatures or restructuring dlls.In this case, all you need to do is a simple “rebuild project/solution” inside your Visual Studio to get things straight again.