So I fired up the excellent MemProfiler, I started digging into the issues. Aside from some of the other stupidity I was doing, I found a problem with a vendor’s component. We use Developers Express controls for EVERYTHING and we love them, not just the controls, but the company. When I found this issue with XtraReports not being GC’d after a dispose, I immediately created a small sample for them and submitted a ticket.

Less than 2 days later, they already have it fixed and ready to rock in the latest version. Not only am I impressed, but I am put at ease knowing that if a problem comes up, they are there to not only fix it, but fix it quickly and get it out to people.

This also happened a few months ago when their ASPxThemeDeployer wouldn’t work on my x64 Vista machine. I peeked at their code and saw why. Reported it and the VERY NEXT DAY they had a solution to the problem and pushed out an update.

I don’t have to worry. I know I am taken care of.

Thanks guys!

Visual Studio 2005 just rocks. It does everything I need it to do and more. So far, it is the most efficient IDE I have used to date. There is just one issue I have. It’s the most buggy piece of software I have ever had to use every day. I can put up with small errors or little quirks. I can even put up with a once a day crash, as long as I can see it coming… However, when you have just restarted the IDE, opened a form, changed some code, and then gotten a OutOfMemory Exception almost immediately, it gets a little annoying.

At first I thought maybe it was something screwed up in the project. Then I thought maybe it was some sloppy code or a badly formed DataSet or Form… Now, I just think it’s the IDE. I write in VB.Net, so if you are a C# developer, you may not know what I’m talking about. Why might that be? You see, I also write code in C# whenever I can. Not once have I ever had weird errors, crashes, or strange slow downs while working with C# code. Most of the time, I am writing C# code on my laptop and VB.Net on the desktop. The laptop has less memory (only 512MB versus the 1.5 Gig on the desktop) and the laptop has a slower processor (2.5 Ghz versus the 3 Ghz of the desktop). While I am probably over reacting to it, it still sucks. I’ll get these stupid errors once in the morning and guaranteed to get it at least twice in the afternoon. It doesn’t matter what project it is either. It can be a large project, or just a simple class library that I keep maintained in it’s own assembly. The best part is it’s total random. I can never see it coming…

I know it’s the background compiler for VB.Net. You can just tell because the error always happens when you’ve added new code and switched to the designer…

I hate it when I have adversity on the job… I just wish it wasn’t my tools that were causing it. Visual Studio 2005: A Love/Hate Relationship.