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I have read about CodeRush before, however, I really never took the time to test it out.  At least, that was until Scott Hanselman showed an incredible screenshot of the the add-in in action.

After taking the tool for a spin, I have come to the realization that CodeRush is nice.. really nice.  Maybe it is the wonderfully vibrant visualizations flying around my editor or maybe it is because it has already save me ton of time coding. Either way CodeRush rocks.

CodeRush allows for easier code navigation,  flow visualizations, code expansions ,  code embedding, smart cut/paste, linked indentifiers,  and a pretty nice plug-in architecture.

Some CodeRush bling-bling:

• Quick Navigation-  My favorite feature of CodeRush is the quick navigation of  code declarations. You can filter the list of members by  type (class, interfaces, etc.), members (events, methods, etc.), access (public, private, etc.), and view (solution, project, current file, all files, or namespace).  But the coolest aspect of QuickNavigation is the preview feature; while you scroll through the list of declarations you can preview the code for the selected declaration.  Nice!   

• Markers - I like reading code; I read code a lot. But, in Visual Studio I never really found a concise way to traverse code. Well, with CodeRush markers feature, I can bounce back and forth and quickly read code the way I am used to -- my heart still yearns for a complete ctags solution for VS.net .

• Plug-in Architecture - No more messing with COM goop, good old .NET will do the trick to enhance your favorite editor.

• Visually Aesthetic - Very very attractive visualizations; I really enjoy  the #region veneer.

Enough pimping, CodeRush does have some weak points.

• Refactoring - It needs much better refactoring support, currently, it only supports cycling through visibility identifiers and a smart duplicate line refactor.  We need more Fowler refactorings.

• Learning Curve - It has a pretty steep learning curve for the amount of power it can give a developer. (Also, it needs a consolidated help file to print for off-line viewing)

Overall, I am one step closer to VIM nirvana.