Since the launch of VS2012, Microsoft has released four updates referred to as 2012.1, 2012.2, and so on. Each have added functionality to the original program, and each installed package is cumulative, meaning that only the newest one has to be installed to provide the benefits of all previous updates.

Visual Studio comes in several different versions, each with different capabilities and target audiences. In all cases, the minimum supported operating system is Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 on the desktop or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 on the server. The two biggest differences of the Visual Studio line-up are between the Express and non-Express (premium) versions. Express editions are offered by Microsoft free of charge, and target a specific type of application development:

The non-Express editions run from Visual Studio Professional 2013 to Visual Studio Ultimate 2013. Ultimate has the entire available functionality, whereas Professional is limited to Peek Definition. One advantage all non-Express editions share is that all possible development types (web, apps, and desktop) are available in a single installation. The non-Express editions are as follows:

Visual Studio 2013 will make certain options available to you based on the underlying version of Windows that you are running. If you are running Windows 8.1, you will only be able to create new Windows Store applications for Windows 8.1. You will be able to open existing Windows 8 app solutions in VS2013, but not create new ones. You are able to create new Windows 8 apps only with VS2012, but this should be considered a special case given the arrival of Windows 8.1. Windows Store applications cannot be developed with any version of Visual Studio on Windows 7, Windows Server (any version), or previous versions of Windows.

Visual Studio 2013 Update 1 has been released and primarily consists of stability patches and bug fixes. It should be applied to your system regardless of the edition of VS2013 that you have selected. More information about Update 1 is available at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2911573. As this book goes to print, a preview of Update 2 has been announced. This release will be delivering new features as well bug fixes. Follow this book's Twitter feed for more news as this becomes available (@VSDevTips) or https://twitter.com/vsdevtips.

Chapter 1, Discovering Visual Studio 2013, starts us off by taking a tour of the new features found in the editor itself and covers all VS2013's key refinements, from logging in to project navigation.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with Windows Store Applications, examines the development process for Windows Store apps for Windows 8.1. The full process of obtaining a developer license to building, testing, and publishing an app is covered.

Chapter 3, Web Development – ASP.NET, HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript, covers several areas of web development and how VS2013 can assist you. Here, the multi-browser preview is covered as well as editor enhancements that can benefit HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript programmers.

Chapter 4, .NET Framework 4.5.1 Development, focuses on developing applications that run on .NET. Desktop application development is still a key market and shows ways VS2013 can help.

Chapter 5, Debugging Your .NET Application, profiles the various ways to debug your .NET-based code. Code isn't always available on your development environment and this profile shows ways to deal with separate machines, whether they are tables or in production.

Chapter 6, Asynchrony in .NET, deals with the use of asynchronous code to provide more responsive output and how it may benefit your applications.

Chapter 7, Unwrapping C++ Development, tackles the elder statesman of languages severed by VS2013. Several recipes are provided, which will benefit your C++ usage; some of the areas covered include unit testing, XAML, and DirectX.

Chapter 8, Working with Team Foundation Server 2013, describes how Team Foundation Server can benefit your productivity. Whether you are an independent developer or part of a large corporate effort, you'll see how modern source control can help.

Chapter 9, Languages, takes a moment to look at some useful languages that are new to Visual Studio: TypeScript and Python. Python has a long and successful history, and now it is a first-class citizen on Visual Studio. We'll take a look at how Python can help .NET developers.

Appendix, Visual Studio Medley, the assortment of preceding topics doesn't cover everything that VS2013 can do. We'll cover some ways to extend Visual Studio's abilities and how to get your app ready for consumption by end users.

To follow the recipes in this book, you will need a copy of Visual Studio 2013. Some of the features covered in the recipes may only be available in specific editions of Visual Studio. Whenever possible, any specific version requirements will be noted.

If you wish to follow one of these recipes and you do not have the right edition, trial versions of the premium versions can be downloaded from the Microsoft website enabling you to see if a particular feature would benefit your project.

For any of the recipes that deal with Windows Store applications, you will need to be using Windows 8.1 as your operating system.

If you already know your way around previous versions of Visual Studio, if you are familiar with Microsoft development, and if you're looking to quickly get up to speed with the latest improvements in the 2013 incarnation of Microsoft's number one development tool, then this book is for you.

If you are an experienced developer who has used Eclipse or Xcode, you should also be able to find this book useful for exploring the differences between your tools and the latest that Microsoft has to offer.

In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "Open the VS2012_Web solution and run the application."

A block of code is set as follows:

<appSettings>
  <add key="vs:enableBrowserLink" value="true"/>
</appSettings>

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

<system.webServer>
  <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true" />
</system.webServer>

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

Get-Command *intelli*

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "The Preview Selected Items button is a toggle button."

Keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl or F4 are formatted as shown.

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