Changes in Visual Studio 2012

Introduction

Nowadays, we see that software development process is shifting from enterprise-driven process to consumer-focused approach, in which applications are fully based on the taste of consumer market and the devices they want to use. And the speed at which these devices and platform are emerging, it is becoming more and more challenging for developers. Earlier applications were used to run on a server or a desktop but today many more devices like smartphones, tablets are becoming ubiquitous. So, in this case developer must either create applications that work on multiple platforms or make applications tailored to each platform with similar logic and the most important thing is, there should be a connected experience that allow user to seamlessly move among all these devices and platforms.

But as long as Microsoft is with developers, developers need not worry. Agree ??? 

Visual Studio 2012 

Launch of Visual Studio 2012 solved a lot of problems. Now instead of the developer worrying about platform and devices, Visual Studio will take care of it. Isn't it good? Visual Studio 2012 makes it easy to develop apps for multiple platforms including Windows Smartphones, slates, Xbox and of course traditional desktops. With the birth of Portable Libraries, developer can write and compile the code once and then deploy the assembly anywhere. Enhanced version of Team Foundation Server is another major addition. Continuing to all these, one major change are App Store which help consumer to quickly search and acquire the required application software. In App Store, Applications can be monetized also either by charging or including advertisements in the application. Visual Studio 2012 provides integrated tools to publish our applications in this app store.

Major changes done in Visual Studio 2012

• Interface of Visual Studio is redesigned in order to remove significant clutter from the screen, while still providing a fast access to major features.
• Visual Studio 2012 is not only for developers, but many other people like stakeholders, architects, project managers, designers, testers etc.
• Visual Studio 2012 helps developer create applications that span device boundaries. Project templates, debugging tools and portable class libraries all help to make this process easier 
• Visual Studio 2012 supports developers by enabling them to create solutions that are highly scalable, supporting a range of models from durable full duplex synchronous services to high-throughput asynchronous services.
• Developing a scalable solution is only half the challenge: You must also provide a suitable environment to act as a host. With Visual Studio you can develop for a range of infrastructure choices. Whether you choose to target a physical server, a virtual server, or a private or public cloud, Visual Studio 2012 is your solution. If you decide to use the Windows Azure™ public cloud offering, you can deploy directly from Visual Studio to the cloud. Visual Studio also includes IIS Express (lightweight IIS), which is suitable for testing the apps.

Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2012

• It enables stakeholders to participate as equally as developers throughout the application life cycle and help developers in faster delivery with more business value.
• As earlier version, Visual Studio TFS can be installed on local server but in Visual Studio 2012, Team Foundation Server is available as an online SaaS version.
• Sometimes, some teams may be using a different development environment, such as Eclipse™. Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2012 provides adapters to connect to supported IDEs so that developers can work in their preferred development environment. 

Blend

• It enables developer to create more stunning applications using XAML.
• Portability between Visual Studio 2012 and Blend has been improved, and the design surface in Visual Studio has been upgraded to more closely match the experience in Blend.

Visual Studio Test Professional 2012

• This helps testing process to fully integrate into Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
• Using this test cases and testing can be performed more quicker using the same tools as developers.
• It allows Exploratory Testing, which enables testing without creating any formal test plans. It allows Test Manager to record, attach screenshots, and create a test case
• Testing on remote devices without installing Visual Studio 2012 or Test Manager on the device itself (only a small test agent need to be installed on the device). 

There are lots of interesting facts, which are associated with Visual Studio 2012, which I'll be posting as and when I'll get time.