Key updates to Visual Studio 2019 v16.10

Visual Studio 2019 keeps growing strength to strength. In this article, I will highlight the new and updated features in Visual Studio 2019 v16.10.

So, what’s new in Visual Studio 2019 v16.10?

VS Studio 2019 Updates

C++20 New Features

Besides the fact that the compiler and STL (Standard Template Library) are feature-complete for the latest C++ 20 standard, there are some new features included in this update of Visual Studio. These include:

  • Calendars
  • Timezones
  • <format>
  • Intellisense improvements for
    • Modules
    • Ranges
    • Concepts

Learn more information about the C++20 updates and additions.

Improvements to GitHub

There are a few new settings added to the Git, Settings menu. These include:

  • Close open solutions not under Git when opening a repository
  • Open folder in Solution Explorer when opening a Git repository
  • Automatically load the solution when opening a Git repository
  • Automatically check out branches with a double-click or Enter key

There are also a few changes made to enhance your Git productivity, these include:

  • The Visual Studio 2019 status bar includes a new branch picker that enables you to filter and switch between local and remote branches.
  • In the Git Changes window, you can now sync can Sync with multiple remotes from the overflow menu as well as open your repository’s remote webpage in a browser.

Learn more information about the GitHub improvements and additions.

Performance Profiler 

The Performance Profiler includes the following changes or updates:

  • The .NET Object Allocation tool is significantly faster and also supports SourceLink that enables you to see where code is allocating.
  • The launch page for the Performance Profiler now contains links to online documentation.

Improved Docker Container Tooling

This update of Visual Studio includes these features for users that use Docker container tooling, these include:

  • With Docker Compose tooling, you can run any combination of services specified in your Compose files.
  • Compose project groups your Containers so that it’s faster to identify which containers are linked to your application. 
  • Containers and Images now include a Labels tab enabling you to see which labels you are using.
  • The Containers tool window supports tagging an image.

Learn more about the improved docker container tooling.

.NET Productivity

Several features have been added or updated, let’s have a look:

  • The Remove Unused References command has been added. This cleans up unused references and NuGet packages.
  • IntelliSense now includes completion for Enum values when a type is known.
  • IntelliSense also includes an option to insert arguments when writing a method call.
  • Inheritance chains can now be inspected with the use of a visual representation of inheritance.

For a more complete list of Visual Studio IDE upgrades and feature, please have a look here.

Hannes DuPreez
Hannes DuPreez
Ockert J. du Preez is a passionate coder and always willing to learn. He has written hundreds of developer articles over the years detailing his programming quests and adventures. He has written the following books: Visual Studio 2019 In-Depth (BpB Publications) JavaScript for Gurus (BpB Publications) He was the Technical Editor for Professional C++, 5th Edition (Wiley) He was a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for .NET (2008–2017).

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