dnrTV and The Amazing DXCore

The latest episode of dnrTV with Marc Miller and Karl Franklin is fascinating. Karl asked his blog readers to submit ideas for a tool that Marc would build using the DXCore framework. I suggested building a tool to rearrange the code inside a class based on accessibility modifiers and some other criteria, as I’ve often rearranged strange code by hand to fit a style I’m accustomed to. Marc finished the feature in less than an hour.

DXCore kidnaps the Visual Studio extensibility model and hides it in the trunk of a late model Buick. DXCore replaces the extensiblity API with a a richer object model for building plug-ins. DevExpress builds it’s own commercial refactoring plug-ins on top of DXCore. The API is well organized, but huge. Once you’ve learned your way around, however, you can bend the IDE to your will.

Marc and Karl also referred to me as Paul, but I don’t mind. I mix up names all the time.