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The main advantage is the use of ReSharper and other add-ons but we need to make a convincing argument for the purchase of Visual Studio 2012 Professional. We are currently using Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows. It is quite good but is hard to switch from using the full Professional version in the past.

So far the team has compiled the following list:

  1. Extract Interface function missing. Very useful for clean SOLID code.
  2. No add-on support. Can’t install StyleCop or productivity tools. AnkhSvn, Spell checker, Productivity PowerTools, GhostDoc, Regex Editor, PowerCommands.
  3. The exception assistant is limited in Express edition. This is a big annoyance. See http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/01/ive-given-up-on-visual-studio-express-2012-for-windows-desktop-heres-why/
  4. Different tools provided by MS like certificate generation.
  5. Possibility of create a Test project based on source code.

We do server development in C# so any web add-ons or anything else is useless.

The reason I am asking is I am sure that people have been in the same position. What approach did you use and can you think of additions or ammends to the above list?

Thanks,

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  • 2
    Note that Ultimate version is even better. After using Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate for years, I find Visual Studio 2012 Professional I have at workplace quite limited (especially for testing and modeling).
    – Arseni Mourzenko
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 7:45
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    I wouldn't take a .Net job if they didn't have at least Professional on an MSDN subscription. If they don't take your tools seriously it's the same thing as not taking you seriously. I'd make your case and say that the full version is required by you to do your job, and if your boss refuses go find another job where they value their developers instead.
    – Keith
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 10:23
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    @Keith, that's rather closed minded but I understand your point. VS Express is surprisingly productive. This is a startup. The job could still be awesome. We're probably going to get VS Pro, the company is 3 months old - we have to justify the cost.
    – Sam Leach
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 12:07
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    I don't have equity. :(
    – Sam Leach
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 13:26
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    Wait - you're a startup? Then Visual Studio and other good stuff should be free, or very cheap, through Microsoft BizSpark. If your company is less than 5 years old and making less than 1 million US $ a year, you qualify.
    – MarkJ
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 20:04

1 Answer 1

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  • Calculate how much hours you save with this per week.
  • Multiply the amount with your workweeks per year.
  • Multiply this with the amount of money they pay you per hour.
  • Subtract the price of VS2012 Prof. from the result.
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  • 6
    +1 given that VS seems to have at most a two yearly release cycle you can probably do the calculation over two years instead
    – jk.
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 8:04
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    @jk The last VS was 2012, the next VS is 2013. I think they're moving to yearly releases.
    – Keith
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 10:13
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    What about when customers are getting charged by the hour? In that case it's harder to make an argument that upgrading is financially viable.
    – MatsT
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 13:15
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    @jwenting - I don't see how that answers MatsT. The customer usually doesn't care what software you use to do the development, so long as you're using the technologies you agreed on. I can't think of any reason a client would insist on Resharper being used, for instance.
    – Bobson
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 14:51
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    @MatsT - Deliberately working slower in order to charge the customer more is a very shady business practice, and that's effectively what you'd be doing in that case.
    – Bobson
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 14:54

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