I happened to browse over to the JetBrains website and notice a new version of ReSharper, version 1.0.5. The update was released on Friday. As a registered customer, one would think I would have been notified of the update. The agony of not using the latest version for a whole week :)
I kid you not, JetBrains ReSharper is addicting and I choose not to function without it. I am not sure how I programmed without it in the past. Sure it has a number of refactoring functions that make my life so much easier, especially when using Test-Driven Development, but what I really enjoy is the real-time error checking:
“One of the most powerful and helpful features in ReSharper is its ability to quickly detect and highlight errors in code, without the need to compile it. ReSharper automatically analyzes your code while you work and will highlight a variety of possible syntax or logical errors. It can also detect and emphasize statements or constructs that you should be warned about (e.g., unused or uninitialized variables).”
It is very reassuring to have ReSharper checking my code in the background while I develop. For $99, ReSharper is a steal. Once you use it, you won't want to program without it.
CodeRush looks promising as well, but it doesn't have the real-time error checking found in ReSharper. Also, CodeRush is at version 1.1.8 as of today and it still has memory consumption, performance, and IDE lockup problems. All software has bugs, but I have yet to have ReSharper cause me any problems. I know Developer Express will eventually get the code stable, but I am amazed the product still has these types of problems in production form. Check out their newsgroup to see for yourself.
I will take another look at CodeRush when it gets stable and Refactor! when it gets released and compare them again to ReSharper. For now, however, if you program in C#, you would be “crazy” not to use ReSharper.