--- title: "[Review] CodeSmart.Net" url: "https://osherove.com/blog/2003/11/26/review-codesmartnet.md" canonical: "https://osherove.com/blog/2003/11/26/review-codesmartnet.html" published: "2003-11-26T11:09:00" updated: "2003-11-26T11:09:00" tags: [".Net Original", "Cool Tools"] author: "Roy Osherove" description: "AXTools has been on my “favorite tool makers” list for a couple of years now, if not more (disclaimer: I got a free copy of this product so that I can review it). When I did VB6 development, they came out with one of…" usage: "Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page)." license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" --- # \[Review\] CodeSmart.Net By Roy Osherove November 26, 2003 In [.Net Original](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net-original), [Cool Tools](https://osherove.com/blog/category/cool-tools) **Historical article** · Originally published November 26, 2003; technical details may be outdated. [](http://www.axtools.com/)[AXTools](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/11/26/www.axtools.com) has been on my “favorite tool makers” list for a couple of years now, if not more _(disclaimer: I got a free copy of this product so that I can review it)._ When I did VB6 development, they came out with one of the best add-ins for VB that I've ever used (and I'm a tool freak) - [CodeSmart](http://www.axtools.com/products/codesmart.htm). To say the least, the tool was awesome and saved hours every day in productivity enhancements.I still use it today whenever I open up vb6. Some of the most incredible features were : -  [a code explorer](http://www.axtools.com/products/cs2k3vb_screenshots.htm#T21) \- allowing you to see the methods and the files in the same tree - a [code workbench](http://www.axtools.com/products/cs2k3vb_screenshots.htm#T22) \- allowing you to group shortcuts to the most frequently visited code items in your project - [Auto-text](http://www.axtools.com/products/cs2k3vb_screenshots.htm#T41) (what Whidbey calls code expansion nowadays) - a slew of other ,mind boggling then, features that vb developers had to live without. **When Vs.Net came out** I was not sure how well they would survive with all the new features that Vs.Net had implemented. some of them were highlighted as important features in vb6 but now you had them built in such as multi item clipboards and so on. A little while later, [AXTools](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/11/26/www.axtools.com) came out with CodeSmart.Net. I'm glad to say that although it has less features, the most important features that I loved in Vb6 are now implemented in CodeSmart.Net for both Vb.Net and C#! -  [a code explorer](http://www.axtools.com/products/cs2k3net_screenshots.htm#T21) \- allowing you to see the methods and the files in the same tree. this is cool because this way I  have to switch between File view and Class view in the vs.Net IDE. I can just use my physical file view to find what I need. ![](https://osherove.com/img/wb/8ea72ad0_www.axtools.com_products_showcs2k3net_CodeExplorer2.gif)  - a [code workbench](http://www.axtools.com/products/cs2k3net_screenshots.htm#T22) \- allowing you to group shortcuts to the most frequently visited code items in your project this is a lifesaver. You have no idea how much. - [Auto-text](http://www.axtools.com/products/cs2k3net_screenshots.htm#T34) (what Whidbey calls code expansion nowadays) since the auto-text is fully configurable, it makes all the code expansion stuff I've read about in Whidbey look totally ridiculous. Why oh why should I implement such a complex XML file when I can do the same thing in less than 30 seconds by creating a new auto-text entry in CodeSmart? ![](https://osherove.com/img/wb/02456ce5_www.axtools.com_products_showcs2k3net_AutoText.gif)  there are some other nice features like code builders,advanced find and replace and so on but these are the three that I really can't live without. They alone are worth the price of admission. **What's missing?** [AXTools](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/11/26/www.axtools.com) could have done a lot more with CodeSmart.Net. If there's one thing that's missing it's refactoring support. That would be **so easy to implement** in such a good add-in and right now, it will be their biggest advantage over the competition (C# refactory only works on C#). [AXTools](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/11/26/www.axtools.com) should grow into a new market because the old one seems to be disappearing quickly. They can't rely on their old bag of tricks to save them forever. Invent yourself. **Final thoughts:** Get this add-in and save yourself lots of time using the three features I mentioned above. The rest is just added bonus. ## More in .Net Original [All posts in .Net Original](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net-original) - Nov 28, 2003 ### [Welcome Dino, and a word about MSDN articles](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/11/28/welcome-dino-and-a-word-about-msdn-articles.html) - Nov 27, 2003 ### [\[Tool\] Scripter allows you to configure a linked Javascript or VBScript file.](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/11/27/tool-scripter-allows-you-to-configure-a-linked-javascript-or.html) - Nov 25, 2003 ### [Plugin frameworks in .Net links](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/11/25/plugin-frameworks-in-net-links.html) - Nov 24, 2003 ### [Introducing: Extensibility Application Block](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/11/24/introducing-extensibility-application-block.html) --- ## About the author **Roy Osherove**: Senior Solutions Architect at AWS working on AI for production and AI-driven development; author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership, with about 20 years of consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery. ### Sites - [RobotPaper](https://robotpaper.ai/): This blog: AI patterns and anti-patterns, AI and coding agents, and engineering leadership. - [osherove.com](https://osherove.com): Roy's personal site. Author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership; consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery, plus about 20 years of blog posts. - [The Art of Unit Testing](https://www.artofunittesting.com): The Art of Unit Testing, 3rd Edition (Manning): readable, maintainable, trustworthy unit tests, plus TDD workshops in C#, JavaScript, Java and Kotlin. - [5whys.com](https://www.5whys.com): Roy's writing on software team leadership: self-organizing teams, surviving chaos, learning mode and the Elastic Leadership model. - [Pipeline Driven](https://pipelinedriven.org): Continuous delivery and DevOps practices: build patterns, pipeline-friendly testing, DevOps metrics and enterprise DevOps. - [Elastic Leadership](https://www.elasticleadership.com): Elastic Leadership, Roy's framework for software team leaders (survival, learning and self-organizing modes). ### Social - X: https://x.com/royosherove - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osherove/ ### Contact - Contact form: https://forms.gle/jQSx5KoXvrVA1JCK7 ### License Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page). License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/