Static Code Analysis on Visual Studio .NET 2005
I've always been very intrigued with the idea of Static Code Analysis, or checking to make sure you follow the design rules on your code. This is built in to Visual Studio .NET 2005, within the Project Settings on the “Code Analysis” tab.
Once you have a project of any size and then turn this on, you may find thousands of violations, some of these may be helpful, but most will probably not be. One way to start distinguishing between the helpful items and items that may be considered “too-picky” would be to turn this on in your project before you write your first line of code. As you add code you will see which items get flagged with warnings and if they are considered “too-picky” or there isn’t anything you can do about this, you can just turn that item off.