Question

There are two major refactoring tools which can be installed for Visual Studio that provide C++ support. The full versions of both tools are $250, and they seem to offer similar functionality. They are:

• Developer Express’ Refactor Pro + CodeRush
• Whole Tomato’s Visual Assist X

Which tool is better?

EDIT: My initial evaluation of the tools seems to be that Refactor Pro/CodeRush has several more features, but is also quite buggy on occasion. It doesn’t seem to like macros:

_{(source: billy-oneal.com)}

Here’s Visual Assist’s interpretation of the same:

_{(source: billy-oneal.com)}

EDIT2: I think I like CodeRush over Visual Assist, but I’m not sure I can trust CR. CodeRush does seem to have problems parsing some C++ constructs, like the macros above. But it’s UI is much more polished. For example:

_{(source: billy-oneal.com)}

On the other hand Visual Assist X seems to have a much larger following among C++ developers, and it’s code analysis is MUCH better. It doesn’t seem to make mistakes like R! Pro was making from time to time.

I think at this point I just have to play with both tools and see which one proves more useful. But I’m still curious if anyone has had horror / success stories with either tool.

Answer 1

I have used Visual Assist for years and I think it makes VS heaps more convenient for C++ development. The searchable file list, Go to Declaration and Rename functions in particular have been indispensable. VS2010 probably makes some of Visual Assist features obsolete but I imagine it will continue to be useful.

There are some situations where Visual Assist will stumble and not parse the code correctly, but they are few and far between, and it improves with every version.

I haven’t used Refactor Pro so I can’t say anything about it unfortunately.